Abstract
Lye peeling technique is putting both environmental and economic pressure on California tomato processing industry due to its associated salinity issues and wastewater disposal problems. This study is aimed at developing alternative peeling methods with reduced or no caustic usage to produce high quality peeled tomatoes. The studied five peeling methods were lye peeling, Infrared (IR) peeling, lye-IR peeling, enzymatic peeling and enzyme-IR peeling. Peeling performance and peeled tomato quality of three tomato cultivars were determined. The peeling performance was evaluated based upon peelability, peeling easiness, and peeling weight loss. The color and texture of peeled tomatoes were measured as quality indicators. The study showed that IR peeling resulted in a similar peeling easiness but yielded lower peeling loss and firmer peeled product compared to regular lye peeling method when IR peeling used the same or slightly longer time than lye peeling. Pretreatment with low concentration of lye or pectinase enzyme solution prior to IR treatment did not show any advantages over IR peeling alone. It is, therefore, concluded that IR-peeling has a good potential as an alternative to the current lye peeling method used in the tomato industry.
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call