Blanching at low temperatures:: A thermal bioprocess applied to fruits and vegetables to improve textural quality

Low-temperature and long-time blanching is a bioprocess used on fruits and vegetables, resulting in firmer textured products than those processed by traditional methods. Firmness involves "in situ" activation of pectinesterase present on pectins walls. The produced pectates form intermolecular structures between pectins and another polysaccharides present in these tissues, resulting in more rigid and less water-soluble structures than the original compounds. In this review, we presented the importance of textures of fruits and vegetables, factors responsible for texture changes, caused during processing, and methods to minimize them, with emphasis on low-temperature and long-time blanching. Finally, advantage and disadvantage of this pretreatment are presented.