EVALUATION OF OHMIC HEATING EFFECTS ON BELL PEPPER PUREE WITH ADDED CITRUS PECTIN

The important potential of the Mintos F1 variety of bell peppers which can be processed into products with special destinations is studied in this work. The main objective of this work is the evaluation of the ohmic heating (OH) effects on bell pepper puree with added citrus pectin in various concentrations (0.1-0.3%). In order to obtain the purees, the vegetable material was blended at 1900 rpm for 2 minutes. The samples were ohmically heated at 20 V/cm for 3 minutes using a batch installation. The electrical conductivity values were measured and also calculated. Antioxidant capacity, Texture Profile Analyses, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and confocal scanning microscopy were used in order to estimate the possible changes induced by the addition of citrus pectin and ohmic heating. The electrical conductivity values demonstrate a linear and continuous data distribution. After 30 days of storage, the acidity of the samples was slightly modified with a pH decrease of 4% for the sample of bell pepper puree with 0.3% citrus pectin addition (APC0.3). The inhibition of free radicals for the control sample was 71%. The rheological behavior of the samples remains non Newtonian after the OH processing. The cohesiveness values confirm the increase in the intensity of the links between the structural elements of the bell pepper puree. The consistency and stability of the samples was improved by the pectin addition. The ready-to-eat products with special destination are important because of their convenience to consumption.