Contribution of Hurdles Technology to Preserve the Qualities of Broccoli and Extend Their Shelf-Life

Abstract

Due to its high concentration of bioactive components, broccoli heads have a lot of potential as a functional food. Broccoli is perceived as a tasty, wholesome and healthful food product. This product nevertheless has a limited shelf life and quality retention issues, especially in tropical temperature zones. The hurdles techniques are starting to become more acceptable in the sector of food preservation since they affect moderate levels. This study evaluates the impact of hurdles techniques and various storage conditions (ambient at 25 °C, cold at 4 °C, and frozen at -18 °C) on broccolis cut characteristics. For the hurdles experiment, broccoli cuts were soaked in four solutions (the 1st: boiling water, the 2nd: metabisulphite solution (150 ppm), the 3rd: sodium chloride (4%), citric acid (1%), sodium benzoate (200 ppm) and the 4th: 1% chitosan) followed by packaging using two approaches (aerobic and vacuum). Sensory attributes, browning index, ascorbic acid, total phenolic, total flavonoids and antioxidant activity % (by DPPH, ABTS and FRAP) of hurdled and un-hurdled broccoli cuts during storage were investigated. Results demonstrated that using hurdle technology (different soaking solutions, packaging methods and storage conditions) had significant impact on the quality properties of the broccoli cuts. Additionally, vacuum packaging demonstrated the highest protection against decreasing the values of ascorbic acid, total phenolic, total flavonoid, and antioxidant components.