Effect of vegetable blanching process on peroxidase activity and content of vitamin C and β-carotene

Abstract

The blanching process is used to prevent the action of enzymes that cause the loss of taste, color and texture of vegetables and fruits. Blanching also removes some surface dirt and inactivates microorganisms, brightens the color, softens and helps to slow down the loss of vitamins. In the present studies, attention is focused on the selection of optimal regimes for the process of blanching vegetables, in which peroxidase activity is suppressed, while vitamin C and β-carotene are preserved. To determine the optimal blanching modes for different durations, the following were used: steam treatment of the sample, treatment with hot water at a temperature of 950C, and blanching with microwave radiation. As a result of the research, it was found that blanching the studied samples with steam for 120 seconds and microwave treatment for 90 seconds for carrots and 60 seconds for pumpkin are more gentle processing methods compared to boiling, and it is these methods that should be used for further research. The results showed that microwave treatment was the most effective in terms of peroxidase inactivation compared to steam and hot water. Boiling as a blanching method is undesirable, since with this method, when the maximum inactivation of peroxidase is reached, there is an increased destruction of vitamin C and β-carotene.