Impact of conventional and ohmic blanching on color, phytochemical, structural, and sensory properties of mango (Mangifera indica L.) cubes: A comparative analysis

Abstract

Innovative food-preserving methods are developing with the demand for delicious and healthy foods. The current work investigates the preservation of raw Totapuri mango slices of 1 cube cm dimension through conventional blanching (CB) and ohmic blanching (OB). The peroxidase test identified the precise blanching times. The CB performed by boiling mango cubes at 90 °C in a hot water bath took 130 s, whereas OB took 40–110 s depending on the voltage gradients. The color parameters of the samples and the nature of inherent bioactive compounds remained intact in both conventional and ohmic blanching treatments. However, the blanching reduced the amounts of bioactive compounds. The CB reduced these contents to a greater extent than OB with the minimum effect at 20 V/cm due to non-uniform thermal effects in the former. The morphology was severely affected by CB treatment compared to OB treatment as evidenced by SEM image analyses. The DPPH scavenging activity at 20 V/cm was the highest among all blanched samples. Thus, the OB is preferable to CB for preserving the mango cubes.