Biochemical and colour changes of watercress (Nasturtium officinale R. Br.) during freezing and frozen storage

E. M. Gonçalves, R. M. S. Cruz, M. Abreu, T. R. S. Brandão, C. L. M. Silva*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

72 Citations (Scopus)
31 Downloads

Abstract

The effects of water blanching, freezing, and frozen storage during 400 days at three different temperatures (-7, -15 and -30 °C), on watercress (Nasturtium officinale R. Br.) colour Hunter Lab parameters, chlorophyll degradation, vitamin C content loss and peroxidase (POD) activity were evaluated. The blanching induced significant changes on colour values and chlorophylls and vitamin C contents. POD activity was reduced 85% from its initial value. Freezing did not affect chlorophylls and vitamin C levels, however, promoted significant differences in colour values and POD residual activity. During frozen storage, ascorbic acid (AA) and POD activity degradations followed first-order kinetics, and colour parameters (LH · aH · bH, -aH/bH, LH · aH/bH, LH/aH · bH and hue (hH0)) were successfully described by zero-order kinetics. The storage temperature effect was successfully described by the Arrhenius law. Chlorophylls and dehydroascorbic acid (DHAA) contents were kept constant during frozen storage.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)32-39
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Food Engineering
Volume93
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jul 2009

Keywords

  • Frozen watercress
  • Kinetics
  • Peroxidase activity
  • Quality parameters

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