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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Albany, California » Western Regional Research Center » Healthy Processed Foods Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #377154
Research Project: New Sustainable Processing Technologies to Produce Healthy, Value-Added Foods from Specialty Crops

Location: Healthy Processed Foods Research

Title: Preservation of sweet cherry by isochoric (constant volume) freezing

Author
item Bilbao-Sainz, Cristina
item Sinrod, Amanda
item POWELL-PALM, MATTHEW - University Of California
item Dao, Lan
item Takeoka, Gary
item Williams, Tina
item Wood, Delilah - De
item UKPAI, GIDEON - University Of California
item ARUDA, JUSTIN - University Of California
item Bridges, David
item Wu, Vivian
item RUBINSKY, BORIS - University Of California
item McHugh, Tara

Submitted to: Innovative Food Science and Emerging Technologies
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/31/2018
Publication Date: 11/3/2018
Citation: Bilbao-Sainz, C., Sinrod, A., Powell-Palm, M., Dao, L.T., Takeoka, G.R., Williams, T.G., Wood, D.F., Ukpai, G., Aruda, J., Bridges, D.F., Wu, V.C., Rubinsky, B., McHugh, T.H. 2018. Preservation of sweet cherry by isochoric (constant volume) freezing. Innovative Food Science and Emerging Technologies. 52:108-115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ifset.2018.10.016.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ifset.2018.10.016

Interpretive Summary: A new technique that preserves the product at subfreezing temperatures without any ice damage is called isochoric freezing. In isochoric freezing, the food product is immersed in a solution and processed inside a pressure chamber. When freezing occurs, ice forms and expands in the chamber. However, due to the constant volume of the chamber, the amount of ice that can formed is restricted. In this way, the food product can be safely preserved at subfreezing temperatures without being frozen if it remains in the non-frozen volume. In this study, we used isochoric freezing to preserve Rainier cherries and characterized their physical and nutritional properties. We concluded that Rainier cherries frozen at -4°C for 24h in an isochoric system had similar quality and nutritional properties to those of fresh cherries.

Technical Abstract: Due to the perishable nature of fruits and the importance of reducing food waste, an effective preservation technique is required to prolong the shelf life and maintain the physical and nutritional properties of seasonal fruits. In this study, we evaluated isochoric freezing for preserving the quality of sweet cherries. We examined the physical characteristics and nutritional values of thawed cherries frozen to -4 °C or -7 °C in an isochoric system and compared them with those of fresh cherries, thawed cherries that were individually quick frozen and thawed cherries frozen to -4 °C or -7°C in an isobaric system. We found that isochoric freezing decreased the drip loss and better preserved the color, texture, structure, ascorbic acid, phenolic and antioxidant content of frozen cherries, thereby proving their potential in frozen fruit applications.