EFFECT OF TQ PROCESSING ON CELL WALL IN RELATION TO FIRMNESS OF CARROT TISSUE – PART I. THE TISSUE MODEL

Abstract

The cell being the basic element of the products of vegetal origin, in this paper there is studied the influence of the heat transfer on the relationship between the cellular wall and the structural-textural  firmness of the carrot tissue. By applying the 3 temperature regimes, water begins to eliminate itself by exoosmosis causing the detachment of the plasmalene from the cellular wall determining the decrease of the relative dimension of the cells, differentially, according to the freezing zone. As methods of determination there are used the tissue model (Voronoi-Delaunay theory) and the firmness test. The tissue model is based on the behavioral study of the cellular matrix, of the cells and of the intercellular space. The firmness test, the parameters are obtained during a puncture test is maximum force that can be correlated with firmness. Electron microscopy technique (SEM) have been used in exploring physical changes in carrots frozen matrix related to both modification of the thickness of cellular membrane and of the relative dimension of the cells. The theory Voronoi-Delaunay a study of the resultant microstructure of carrots frozen matrix based on firmness can provide useful information about the physical state of matrix. The firmness test is widely used in texture measurement of carrots frozen.