Effect of microwave power and blanching time in relation to different geometric shapes of vegetables

The optimal blanching conditions (POD residual activity < 10%), determined by response surface methodology analysis were: 160 W for 120 s for cylinder and large parallelepiped samples; 160 W for 75 s for cube sample; 350 W for 45 s for small parallelepiped sample. Contrariwise, in vegetables mimicking slab geometric shape the POD inactivation did not reach the optimal endpoint of blanching treatment, neither by increasing the MW power nor extending the process time.