Effect of Ultra-fine Pulverization on the Properties of Tomato Peel Residues

Abstract

To investigate the effect of ultra-fine pulverization technology on properties of tomato peel residues, a series of analytical techniques including laser particle size analysis, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray energy-dispersive spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, zeta potential and antioxidant activity assay have been applied to comparative analysis of particle size distribution, specific surface area, microstructure, absorption intensity ratio of chemical functional groups, stability and solubility of dispersion solution, in vitro antioxidative activity and other biological activities of the powder samples prepared from tomato peel residues subjected to ultra-fine pulverization. The results showed that the structure and cell wall of the ultra-fine powder (300 mesh powder) prepared from tomato peel residues revealed more serious damage when compared with the coarse powder (80 mesh powder), the smaller diameter of the 300 mesh powder was reduced by 10 times, but the specific surface area of the 300 mesh powder was increased by four times when compared with the 80 mesh powder; meanwhile, the relative content of each functional group with high absorption intensity was higher than that in 80 mesh powder prepared from tomato peel residues; in addition, the dispersion stability of 300 mesh powder from tomato peel residues was better than that of 80 mesh powder in aqueous solution. Moreover, in vitro antioxidant activity of ultra-fine power was significantly higher than that of the coarse power. This study may help for tomato in deep processing.