Food Biochemistry and Food Processing

23

Biochemistry of Vegetable Processing

M. Oke and G. Paliyath

537

Introduction
Classification of Vegetables
Chemical Composition of Vegetables
Vitamins
Minerals
Dietary Fiber
Proteins
Lipids
Volatiles
Water
Organic Acids
Pigments
Phenolics
Carbohydrates
Turgor and Texture
Vegetable Processing
Harvesting and Processing of Vegetables
Preprocessing Operations
Harvesting
Sorting and Grading
Washing
Peeling
Cutting and Trimming
Blanching
Canning Procedures
Canned Tomatoes
Peeling
Inspection
Cutting
Filling
Exhausting
Processing
Tomato Juice Processing
Processing
Comminution
Extraction

Deaeration

Homogenization

Salting

Quality Attributes of Tomatoes

Physicochemical Stability of Juices

Kinetic Stability

Physical Stability

Minimally Processed Vegetables

Definitions

Consumption

Processing

Quality of MPR

References

Further Reading Material

Cited References

INTRODUCTION

Vegetables and fruits have many similarities with

respect to their composition, harvesting, storage pro-

perties, and processing. In the true botanical sense,

many vegetables are considered fruits. Thus, toma-

toes, cucumbers, eggplant, peppers, and others could

be considered as fruits, since fruits are those por-

tions of a plant that house seeds. However, the

important distinction between fruits and vegetables

is based on their use. Vegetables are considered as

plant items that are eaten with the main course of a

meal, whereas fruits are generally eaten alone or as a

dessert. The United States is one of the world’s lead-

ing producers and consumers of vegetables and mel-

ons. In 2002, the farmgate value of vegetables and

melons (including mushrooms) sold in the United

States reached $17.7 billion. Annual per capita use

Food Biochemistry and Food Processing

Edited by Y. H. Hui

Copyright © 2006 by Blackwell Publishing