Carrot texture degradation kinetics and pectin changes during thermal versus high-pressure/high-temperature processing: A comparative study

Texture degradation kinetics of carrots during traditional thermal and novel high-pressure/high-temperature (HP/HT) processing were compared. Carrots were thermally (0.1 MPa) or HP/HT (600 MPa) treated in a temperature range from 95 to 110 °C. The residual texture (hardness) was determined using a texture analyzer. Kinetic parameters were estimated using a fractional-conversion model. In comparison to the thermal treatments, the HP/HT treatments resulted in a 10-fold slower texture degradation. The retarded texture loss was accompanied by a significantly lower degree of methyl-esterification (DM) of the cell wall pectin. Additionally, the effect of lowering the DM (by applying an HP pretreatment) and adding exogenous calcium ions prior to the HP/HT treatment on the texture of carrots was investigated. It was observed that this combined pretreatment resulted in a notably harder texture of HP/HT-treated carrots. However, a similar outcome was obtained by HP/HT treating carrots directly in a calcium chloride solution without preceding DM reduction and calcium soak. Excluding a separate pretreatment step will lead to time savings and a lower cost. This study demonstrated that HP/HT processing has great potential, concerning texture preservation of processed fruits and vegetables.