2019, Vol. 7, Issue 5, Part A

author(s)
Hiral A Patel and RR Gajera

abstract
Bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) is an important medicinal herb and vegetable crop of tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world belonging to the family Cucurbitaceae. Blanching inactivates the prevailing enzymes in the food which are responsible for the product quality loss. Hot water and steam are the most commonly used heating methods for blanching in industry. This study was undertaken to investigate the effect of steam blanching on bottle gourd shreds after inactivation of peroxidase enzymes. During blanching, the enzyme inactivation time was found 6.00, 7.50 and 8.30 min, in 3, 5 and 7 mm bottle gourd shreds, respectively. The quality parameters of bottle gourd shreds at various thickness and time with their interactions were studied. The total soluble solids was increased with blanching time increases and decreased with shreds thickness increases, however the combined effect was found non-significant. The ascorbic acid content was decreased significantly as shreds thickness and blanching time increases and their interaction were found highly significant (P<0.05). Heat sensitive ascorbic acid reduction was found more in 7 mm shreds after steam blanching. The juice yield was found increased significantly as shred thickness increases and decreased as blanching time increases indicating significant influence of independent parameter.