TEXTURE AND REHYDRATION OF DEHYDRATED CARROTS AS AFFECTED BY LOW-TEMPERATURE BLANCHING

Whole carrots were blanched at four temperatures for five time periods, then blanched again for 6 min at 100-degrees-C. A control sample was blanched 8 min at 100-degrees-C. All samples were then dehydrated. Very slight differences in rehydration ratios between treatments were observed. The 50-degrees-C blanch gave a firmness equal to or less than the control for all blanch times. The carrots blanched at 55-degrees-C for 15, 30 and 45 min were less firm than the control while the 60 and 90 min blanched samples were firmer than the control. The 60 and 65-degrees-C blanched samples had significantly firmer texture than the control when blanch time was > 30 min. Blanching carrots for 45 min at 65-degrees-C increased firmness of the rehydrated product by 51% for uncooked and 27% for cooked.