Mechanical Characteristics of Garlic-Stem After High Pressure Processing

It is a high technology to process and preserve fresh vegetables at high pressure, with less nutriment loss, long shelf life, sanitation and convenience. However, the qualities of vegetables may sometimes be affected by high pressure, such as softened tissues, decreased crisp, faded color. In this paper, the solution of CaCl₂(0.8%) is used to improve the qualities of garlic stem after high pressure processing (HPP). The mechanical characteristics of samples were tested and the equations of curves were well fitted. The characteristics of the soaked samples after HPP have no obvious difference from that of fresh one (control), the texture and color have no obvious change. Taking into account cost and quality of products, our experiments showed that the rational technology is soaking the samples in the solution of CaCl₂ (0.8%) for thirty minutes before HPP, then processing them at 300 MPa at ambient atmospheric temperature for ten minutes.