Effect of Hydrocolloids on Quality of Frozen-Thawed Vegetable Curry

Abstract

Effect of addition of various hydrocolloids in gravy was studied to improve the quality of frozen-thawed vegetable curry. Hydrocolloids such as pectin, sodium alginate, carboxymethyl cellulose, and gellan gum were added (0–0.2%) in the gravy prepared from dry and green spice mix. Frozen-thawed gravy samples showed significantly (P < 0.05) lower drip loss (in percent) with the addition of hydrocolloids by centrifugal and screen (100 meshes) tube test which resulted in increasing concentration of the curry. Pectin (0.2%) reduced the drip losses up to 36% while gellan gum (0.2%) showed about 55% retention of liquid separation over control. Maltodextrin pretreatment at the level of 20% was found to have maximum retention of firmness (6.7 N) in potato cubes as compared to untreated samples.