Abstract
This paper examines the effect of starch coating and the osmotic dehydration in sugar beet molasses on the microbiological stability of apples. One-half of the osmotically treated/untreated apples were protected by starch coating, resulting in four sample groups (namely the K, P, OD and OD+P sample groups). E. coli, Salmonella spp. and Listeria monocytogenes were not detected in any of the samples. Enterobacteria were present in the K and P samples in the first four days (indicating a downward trend), but were not subsequently detectable. The total number of microorganisms (TVC) was found to be uniform in each sample group. However, the TVC values were significantly higher in the K and P sample groups than those of the OD and OD + P samples. Yeasts and molds were detected in the K and P samples, whereas the presence of yeasts and molds in the OD and OD+P samples was confirmed only after four days of storage. The results obtained indicate that osmotic dehydration is a suitable method for maintaining microbial stability, whereas starch coating did not justify its purpose.
Highlights
Osmotic dehydration (OD) is a very old but still prevalent method of food preservation, mostly used as a complementary step in the integrated food processing chain (Rastogi et al, 2002)
The proper dehydration solution choice is a key factor for successful dehydration, and this decision is influenced by the relationship between water loss and solid gain (WL/SG) (Sacchetti et al, 2001)
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of osmotic dehydration and starch coating on the microbiological stability of fresh-cut apples during the course of 10 days at room temperature
Summary
Osmotic dehydration (OD) is a very old but still prevalent method of food preservation, mostly used as a complementary step in the integrated food processing chain (Rastogi et al, 2002). Osmotic dehydration is the process of immersing substrate (food) into a hypertonic solution (salt, sugar, or an active physiological component) at a defined temperature and time. The driving force for osmotic removal of water is the concentration gradient established on opposite sides of the cell membrane (Rastogi and Raghavarao, 2004). Due to the cell membrane permeability, a concentration gradient develops, facilitating the water loss (WL) and the solid gain (SG) through osmotic and diffusion mechanisms (Jiménez-Hernández et al, 2017; Rascón et al, 2018). Sugar beet molasses is an excellent medium for OD because of its high dry matter content and specific nutritional composition. Sugar beet molasses significantly enriches the material being dehydrated relative to minerals and vitamins (Lončar et al, 2015; Nićetin et al, 2015)
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