engleski

Influence of high hydrostatic pressure treatment on pickled cucumbers

INTRODUCTION High hydrostatic pressure is relatively new non-thermal method for treatment of food products. This method is usually used for inactivation of microorganisms and consequently pasteurization of foodstuff. Main advantage of the method is processing at low temperatures and lack of influence on nutritive compounds in food. As this method can effectively change thermal pasteurization, it is important to test chemical and microbiological changes in food, as well as eventual sensory changes such as color and texture. METHODOLOGY Pickled cucumbers were put in glass packaging covered with rubber cap. Samples were treated with pressures of 300, 400, 500 and 600 MPa during 6 minutes. During procedure, maximal preset temperature was 35 oC at 600 MPa. Chemical composition was analyzed and compared to untreated samples. Textural properties such as hardness and elasticity were measured using instrumental texture analyzer. Color was measured using colorimeter. All data was analyzed in Statistica using ANOVA followed by Tukey HSD test. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION There are no changes in the basic food composition, only slight decrease in the vitamin C content. Texture analysis conducted on samples shows that increase in applied pressures leads to the linear decrease in the hardness. Elasticity was unaffected by applied pressures and remains same as in untreated samples. Color values of the samples remained within 5 % compared to same samples before treatment. Microbiological analysis show elimination of all common spoilage bacteria. Pressures of 500 and 600 MPa inactivated all bacteria which were present in untreated samples, ensuring food safety. CONCLUSIONS High pressure treatment proved to be effective method for the inactivation of microbes in food products, while retaining color, textural and nutritional characteristics of fresh untreated products

high hydrostatic pressure; pickled cucumbers; safety; texture

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