Influence of some processing methods on the quality of apple slices: III - variety Rome Beauty

Abstract

The objective of this paper was to study the influence of storage, browning treatments (blanching, SO2 and ascorbic acid) and processing methods (canning, freezing and freeze-dryng) on the quality of apple slices of the variety Rome Beauty. Immediately upon arrival at the pilot plant, half of the fruits was processed and the remainder was held in storage for six weeks at 4.4°C to be processed later. The best treatment for the variety under study was the blanching-freezing combination for all attributes of quality, except for color at six week storage, in which the SO2-fteezing combination was superior. In general, freezing was the most suitable processing method used. For freezing, blanching and SO2 were considered the best browning treatments. Storage had some influence on the quality of apple slices, so that the zero week storage samples were judged superior for almost all attributes of quality.