O. P. Chauhan

Instrumental Textural Changes in Banana (Var. Pachbale) During Ripening Under Active and Passive Modified Atmosphere

Textural properties of modified atmosphere packaged banana (var. Pachbale), stored at 13 ± 1°C, followed by ethrel induced ripening at 30 ± 1°C were studied. Modified atmosphere included active as well as passive types involving flushing of polyethylene pouches (100 gauge) with specific gas mixture (3% O2 + 5% CO2 + 92% N2) at partial vacuum (52.63 kPa), respectively. The MAP applications resulted in varied response of various textural parameters including penetration, shear, force-relaxation, and instrumental texture profile analysis. All the parameters showed a decline except adhesiveness with the progress in ripening. Both the gas flushed, as well as passive MAP stored samples, followed a trend similar to that for control ones, however, the partial vacuum packaged bananas showed persistence of overall texture followed by normal ripening under ethrel induction. The ripened fruits from all the three types of MAP applications did not show any impediment to the instrumental textural quality. In the case of partial vacuum packaged samples, a threshold low temperature duration of 30 days was found to be optimal to avoid abnormal ripening in terms of texture. The instrumental textural kinetic for TPA parameters was found to follow linear model for a longer duration of the storage at low temperature (13 ± 1°C) with high correlation coefficients ranging from 0.845 to 0.989.

Effects of Osmotic Agents on Colour, Textural, Structural, Thermal, and Sensory Properties of Apple Slices

Effects of various osmotic agents (i.e., glucose, fructose, sucrose, maltose, sorbitol, and honey) were evaluated in terms of moisture loss and solid gain besides objective measurements of colour, texture, glass transition temperature; subjective sensory profile; and scanning electron microscopic cellular structure of osmotically dehydrated apple slices. Significantly (p < 0.05) higher solid gains were observed in the samples dipped in glucose and fructose solutions, whereas maltose-treated samples showed higher water loss. The glass transition temperatures varied from −68.4 to −45.6°C, minimum in the case of glucose and maximum in maltose-treated ones. The sucrose- and maltose-treated samples had significantly (p < 0.05) higher L* showing restricted browning. The a* value was maximum and minimum in the case of sucrose- and fructose-treated samples, respectively. Hardness was found to be significantly (p < 0.05) higher (20.104 N) in sucrose-treated samples, while it was at a minimum (4.441 N) in sorbitol-treated ones. The scanning electron microscope studies revealed that cellular structure was retained in sucrose-treated samples, while the damage was observed to be more in the glucose- and fructose-treated ones. The sensory attributes of the osmo-dehydrated samples were found to be better in the case of sucrose-treated samples. The type of humectant, in terms of molecular size, significantly influences the mass transfer process that could be optimized to make the process versatile to meet the requirements of processors and consumers.

Quality Characteristics and Glass Transition Temperature of Hydrocolloid Pre-Treated Frozen Pre-Cut Carrot

The effect of hydrocolloid pre-treatment, i.e., pectin, carboxy methyl cellulose, xanthan gum and sodium alginate on textural properties, drip losses and sensory quality as well as on glass transition temperature (Tg′′′) of the frozen-thawed pre-cut carrots was studied. Untreated frozen samples showed detrimental effects in texture and also excessive drip losses while the carrot tissue integrity was well retained in the hydrocolloid pre-treated samples. As the concentration of the hydrocolloid increased, hardness and fracturability were also found to increase. However, adhesiveness was observed to follow a reverse trend. Xanthan gum (0.4%) resulted in higher texture retention than other hydrocolloids used as well as than the control samples. Hydrocolloids imparted lightness and higher red and yellowness to the carrot samples due to reduced solute mobility and moisture conditioning effects. Overall acceptability of the hydrocolloid pre-treated samples was found to be more than the experimental control samples. All the hydrocolloids were found to be effective in increasing the Tg′′′ to an extent, −2.73 to −0.28°C compared with Tg′′′ (−5.4°C) of untreated carrot samples. Tg′′′ increased to almost 74% in CMC (0.4%) pre-treated samples. The maximum enhancement was found in carboxy methyl cellulose followed by pectin, sodium alginate, and xanthan gum. The threshold concentrations in terms of sensory attributes were determined for optimal conditioning of the product prior to freezing.

Bamboo Shoots: Composition, Nutritional Value, Therapeutic Role and Product Development for Value Addition

Bamboo shoot is an important constituent of traditional cuisine of some parts of India, particularly in North-Eastern region and is highly valued for its nutritional and health benefits due to the presence of several bio-active compounds. Raw, canned, boiled, marinated, fermented, frozen, liquid and medicinal are the several forms in which bamboo shoots are processed. However, the consumption pattern of bamboo shoots is traditional, non-standardized, seasonal and region-specific with little value addition. Due to seasonal availability of bamboo shoot, processing for handling cynogenic toxicity in raw shoot while keeping nutrients intact and enhancement of shelf life of the value added products assume great significance for business potential. There exists an urgent need to adopt the processing of bamboo shoot-based food products in an organized manner. The present article gives an overview of bamboo shoot-based food products, their quality attributes and the opportunities for value addition along with future prospects.