Handling and Storage Effects on Quality and Health-Beneficial Compounds of 'Ready-to-Eat' Edamame

'Ready-to-eat' edamame (Glycine max) may have potential as a healthy snack food. For this to occur, the edamame may be blanched in the pod, frozen for storage and shipping, and thawed on the display shelf prior to purchase. This study examined pod/seed quality and health-beneficial traits, including pod color, total antioxidant activity, and content of soluble sugars, phenolics, and ascorbic acid, of 2 edamame cultivars during the post-thawing shelf life period. Pods were blanched for 90 s immediately after harvest, frozen, then allowed to thaw in 4 degrees C cold storage and sampled after 0, 3, and 7 days. Pod color after blanching and freezing was lighter and more yellowish-green, but cold storage duration had no clear effect. Seed sucrose levels declined and glucose increased during cold storage. Total antioxidant activity and total phenolic content declined after blanching/freezing, but showed no clear trends during post-thawing cold storage. The total ascorbate content showed no clear responses to blanching/freezing or to cold storage time. Overall, blanched, frozen, and then thawed 'ready-to-eat' edamame retained acceptable quality for at least 7 days in cold storage.