Abstract
AbstractMarjoram and rosemary are herbs which are valued for their flavour and colour. The use of microwave in blanching and drying is becoming more and more popular in recent years. This paper reports the effect of microwave blanching as compared to water and steam blanching on the volatile oil, colour, texture (by compression), chlorophyll and ascorbic acid contents of these herbs. There was maximum retention of ascorbic acid in microwave blanched marjoram and rosemary (21.5, 33.0 mg/100 g) i.e. 79.4% and 49.9% compared to fresh herbs. Blanching resulted in better retention of the original green colour of the fresh herb compared to direct drying of the herbs. Texture of microwave blanched herbs improved as revealed by higher compression force values (109.3, 157.8 N). However, there was greater loss of volatile oil in all the blanched samples.
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