Soaking apple slices with different thicknesses in water prior to electro-infrared (EIR) dry-blanching: effects on the physicochemical properties and sensory characteristics of Fuji apple slices
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Bengang Wu
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Junjun Dai
Abstract
The objective of this study was to investigate the processing parameters and quality of apples under electro-infrared (EIR) dry-blanching, as well as evaluate the effects of soaking apple slices in water before EIR heating. The quality of blanched apples was evaluated based on polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity, total phenolic content (TPC), Total flavonoid content (TFC), color and microscopic structure of apple slices. By setting 90 % Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) inactivation as the blanching endpoint. Results showed that thinner slices exhibited faster heating and moisture loss. Color degradation, as indicated by total color difference (ΔE), was more pronounced in untreated (U.T) samples compared to pretreated (P.T) samples. Total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) were better retained in U.T samples. Increasing infrared power from 1200 W to 1800 W increased TPC by 23.83–35.64 % and TFC by 1.24–23.29 %. Microstructural analysis revealed a more porous surface in P.T samples due to cell bursting during pretreatment. These findings provide insights for optimizing EIR blanching to preserve apple quality.
Funding source: National Natural Science Foundation of China
Award Identifier / Grant number: 32202091
Acknowledgments
Authors are thankful to their respective departments/institutes/universities for providing space and other necessary facilities, which helped draft this manuscript.
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Research ethics: Authors complied fully with recommended research ethics in conducting this research.
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Informed consent: Not applicable.
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Author contributions: The author has accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.
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Use of Large Language Models, AI and Machine Learning Tools: None declared.
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Conflict of interest: The author states no conflict of interest.
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Research funding: This work was supported by funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 32202091) and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2021M700908; No. 2022TQ0128; No. 2022M721388).
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Data availability: The raw data can be obtained on request from the corresponding author.
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Supplementary Material
This article contains supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/ijfe-2024-0087).
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