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DT 213 Self Learning Notes Freezing of Fruits and Vegetables

Freezing is a preservation method that involves converting the liquid content of food into ice crystals to lower water activity and stop microbial growth. There are two types of freezing: slow freezing, which takes more than 30 minutes and results in larger ice crystals that can damage cell structures; and quick freezing, which takes less than 30 minutes and forms many smaller ice crystals that do not damage cells. The advantages of freezing include retaining nutrients, freshness, color, and flavor while preventing microbial growth and food spoilage.

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56 views

DT 213 Self Learning Notes Freezing of Fruits and Vegetables

Freezing is a preservation method that involves converting the liquid content of food into ice crystals to lower water activity and stop microbial growth. There are two types of freezing: slow freezing, which takes more than 30 minutes and results in larger ice crystals that can damage cell structures; and quick freezing, which takes less than 30 minutes and forms many smaller ice crystals that do not damage cells. The advantages of freezing include retaining nutrients, freshness, color, and flavor while preventing microbial growth and food spoilage.

Uploaded by

SrujanKumar
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Freezing of Fruits and Vegetables

Introduction to Freezing
Freezing preservation is one of the most beneficial preservation methods. It involves, conversion
of liquid content of food into ice crystals, which lowers down water activity and microbial growth
is arrested due to cold shock. Pure water is frozen at 0C but since fruits and vegetables contain
number of dissolved solids like sugars, acids, they freeze at below 0C.

Process of Freezing
During freezing the commodity cools down below their freezing point but don’t freeze this
phenomenon is called as super cooling. It is shown by AB phase of curve (Fig.1). At super cooled
storage nuclei formation (nucleation) which is the first and most important step in ice-crystal
formation in in freezing process. Here the temperature of water will be lower than 0C but it will
remain in liquid form. At this stage, further lowering of temperature result in the formation of ice
crystals. The second step is called crystal growth stage. The release of heat of crystallization further
enhances temperature (BC). Since food molecules contain substantial amount of solute hence, a
progressive freezing occurs as depicted in Fig.1. Various water molecules gathers around nuclei
and due to subsequent addition, crystal growth occurs. Nucleation may be either due to chance
orientation of molecule or due to induction of nuclei from outside, but in fruits & vegetable mostly
chance nucleation occur. In next step, crystal growth around these nuclei occurs and as a result of
ice-crystal formation, heat of crystallization is generated, which cause increase in temperature of
commodity. This Tes is shown by BC lines. So, time taken by freezing curve from initial cooling to
E point of curve is known as thermal arrest time. It determines how quick or slow freezing process
is. After this point more ice crystal formation takes place and temperature lowers down.

Fig. 22.1 Schematic diagram of freezing process

Advantages of Freezing
 No nutrient loss
 Retain freshness of commodity.
 Retain colour and flavor constituents.
 No microbial contamination.
 No respiration, hence longer shelf-life.

Effect of Freezing
Freezing process is divided into two broad categories viz. slow freezing and quick freezing (Fig.2).
a. Slow freezing: when thermal arrest time is more than 30 min.
b. Quick freezing: Thermal arrest time is less than 30 min.

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In slow freezing, a smaller number of nuclei is formed and as a result of slow freezing more
concentrated solution is left in inter-cellular spaces which causes osmotic effect and liquid comes
out from cells. This affects turgidity of cell and they collapse and on thawing cannot regain their
original shape. Also, crystals forms are larger in size and pierce the cell membrane, puncture it and
damage the cells. Whereas in quick freezing large numbers of nuclei are formed, hence having large
numbers of crystals of smaller size evenly distributed within the cell and in the intercellular space.
Since process is very quick, hence no concentration effect occurs and commodities retain their
original shape.

Fig.2 Schematic diagram of temperature changes of food through the critical zone during
freezing process
Freezing Methods
Mode of heat transfer in freezing food product is convection. Following points should be considered
while selecting a freezing method.
a) Product dimension
b) Shape
c) Specific heat
d) Thickness of pieces
e) Freezing rate
f) Packaging
g) Food product components.

Air Freezing
This is an oldest method of freezing and utilizes cool air having a temperature of -18 to -40C as
freezing method. Different types of air freezing are:
a) Tunnel freezing
b) Fluidized bed Freezing
c) Air blast freezing

Air-blast freezers recirculate air over foods at between -30C and -50C at a velocity of 1.5-6.0
ms-1. The high air velocity reduces the thickness of boundary air films. Air flow is either parallel
or perpendicular to the food and is ducted to pass evenly over all food pieces. Air freezing may
result in:
 Excessive drying
 Costly
 More efficient & more rapid heat transfer
 Less product dehydration & less frequent requirement of frosting.
 Short freezing time so less moisture loss.

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Plate freezing
Packaged or fresh commodities are placed over the surface of plate cooled by refrigerant in a
cylindrical scraped – surface heat exchanges. Double plates are specially used in retail storage. Plate
freezing is a slow freezing process and packages must be of uniform thickness.
Liquid immersion freezing
Certain liquids are used as refrigerant which are known as cryogens. Example: Liquid Nitrogen,
Liquid NO2, Liquid Ammonia, etc.
Cryogenic freezing
Freezers of this type use a change of state in the refrigerant (or cryogenic) to absorb heat from the
freezing food. The heat provides the latent heat of vaporization or sublimation of the cryogen. The
cryogen is in intimate contact with the food and rapidly removes heat from all surfaces to produce
high heat transfer coefficients and rapid freezing. The two most common refrigerants are liquid
nitrogen and solid carbon dioxide.
The main advantages of cryogenic freezing are as follows:
 Short freezing time due to high heat transfer
 Reduction in flavor loss
 Reduction in drip loss
 Reduction in oxidative changes
 Improved texture of the product
 Suitable for freeze sensitive products
The main disadvantage of cryogenic freezing is relatively high cost of cryogens.

Changes Associated with ice formation


Volume changes
The volume of ice is 9% greater than pure water when water is transformed into ice at 0 C, and
hence upon freezing there is expansion of foods. However, few exceptions also exist. For example,
highly concentrated sucrose solution. The degree of expansion depends upon (a) composition, (b)
fraction of water that fails to freeze, and (c) temperature range.
 Moisture: High moisture contents in foods produce greater changes in volume.
 Cell arrangement in fruits and vegetables: Fruits and vegetables have intercellular air spaces
which absorb internal increases in volume without large changes in their overall size.
 Concentration of solutes: High concentrations reduce the freezing point and foods do not
freeze or expand at commercial freezing temperatures.
 Freezer temperature: It determines the amount of ice and hence the degree of expansion.
 Temperature range: Observed changes depend upon the temperature range to which food
product is exposed.
a. Cooling of the specimen: contraction
b. Ice formation: Expansion
c. Cooling of ice-crystals: contraction
d. Solute crystallization: contraction
 Crystallized components: These include ice, fats and solutes, contract when they are cooled
and this reduces the volume of food.

Concentration of Non-aqueous system


During freezing water freezes first. So nearly all the dissolved substances are therefore concentrated
in the diminished quantity of water. So in some manner it is similar to dehydration. Unfrozen phases
have changed physico-chemical properties like pH, titrable acidity, ionic strength, viscosity,
freezing point, or potential. Dissolved gases will be removed/expelled from the space. Water

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structure & water-solute interaction may be drastically increased, macromolecules will come
together and many detrimental reactions may occur. As freezing progresses, concentration of a
particular solute increases and eventually reaches or exceeds their respective saturation
concentration crystallization.

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