Effect of Freezing and Subsequent Storage Processes on the Gooseberries Quality

Abstract

The biochemical composition of fruit raw materials depends on many factors including the pomological variety, processing technologies, etc. The research of the influence of freezing and subsequent storage processes on the pomological variety quality of gooseberry berries, differing in physiological characteristics, is relevant and timely. The research purpose is to study the influence of freezing and subsequent storage of gooseberry berries of the pomological variety “Vladil” on its quality characteristics. A man run the study of fresh and frozen gooseberry berries by standard methods: the berries were frozen in the traditional way at an air temperature of –32 ° C to the final temperature in the center of the berry layer –18 ° C; frozen products were stored at a temperature of –18 ° C and a relative humidity of no more than 95 % in polymer bags weighing 0.5 kg. According to the research results, the freezing process does not significantly affect the change in the content of dry substances, including sugars, organic acids, mineral matters, as well as a number of minor defects. During storage, there were a slight increase in the content of dry substances, including mineral, and a significant increase in organic acids; an insignificant decrease in sugars, and a significant decrease in ascorbic acid. During storage, there is a change in commercial varieties and quality categories of frozen gooseberries due to the permissible defects, leading to a decrease in organoleptic ratings of products. After freezing gooseberry berries, there were the magnitude decrease in the number of mesophilic-aerobic and facultative-anaerobic microorganisms, the absence of bacteria of the Escherichia coli group, pathogenic microorganisms, including bacteria of the genus Salmonella in the microbiota; there was a slight decrease in the number of mold fungi, the number of yeast forms decreased significantly in the fungal microbiota. The researchers made the following conclusion: the studied gooseberry berries can be subjected to contact unilateral freezing and subsequent storage under standard conditions.