Cutting test application to general assessment of vegetable texture changes caused by freezing

Cutting test is extensively applied to assess quality of vegetables subjected to the freezing treatment. Particularly, the changes of tissue structures are evaluated on the grounds of maximum cutting force of material. The vegetable material was air frozen by two methods, i.e. at natural convection and by impingement fluidization. The cutting test performed on Brookfield materials testing machine was used to evaluate the influence of freezing method on product texture. The scanning electron microscopic images of tissue were included into the supportive analysis of freezing-mediated damages. It was found that a change in maximum cutting force can not be considered as a fully reliable indicator of material quality evaluation owing to the force value dependence on a mass change of material during its treatment. A complementary attribute that depicts freezing damage size proves to be appropriately defined material elasticity. (c) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.