Minimal processing of fresh legume seeds
- E. Collado
- T. Venzke-Klug
- F. Artés-Hernández
- E. Aguayo
- A. Martínez Sánchez
- F. Artés
- J.A. Fernández
- P.A. Gómez
Año de publicación: 2017
Tipo: Aportación congreso
Resumen
Regular consumption of fruits and vegetables is associated to essential benefits for humanhealthiness. Within vegetables, legumes are an important source of protein, carbohydrates,vitamins and minerals. Nowadays lifestyle, with little time left to prepare balanced meals,combined to an increased interest in healthy food, have led consumers to demand natural,fresh, and ready-to-eat products. These are represented by fresh cut or minimally freshprocessed (MFP) fruits and vegetables, which are typically packaged in modifiedatmospheres (MAP). Consumption of legumes is sometimes reduced due to difficulties forits preparation. So, the development of MFP pea, faba and cowpea immature seeds couldbe seen as a good option to avoid shelling. Few reviews deal with the physiological answerof these species to fresh processing. In the studies presented here, respiration rate,compositional changes, deterioration, mostly due to browning, dehydration and microbialcontamination of these immature seeds were analyzed. Several sanitizers and antibrowningagents (chlorine, UV-C light, edible coatings, acidified sodium chlorite) were tested as wellas the optimal atmosphere composition within packages for each product. Sensoryattributes (overall quality, taste, aroma, visual appearance, texture and loss of lightness)were also determined. Obtained products were stored at different temperatures (1 and4ºC). Anti-nutritional factors, that can limit legumes consumption, were also analyzed.Results suggest that typical quality loss of immature seeds due to processing can bereduced by using the proposed technology. Low temperature storage combined with MAPallowed to obtain high quality products with a shelf of up to 14 d.