Page 52 - FoodFocusThailand No.182 May 2021

SMART PRODUCTION

The Lower the Damage to the Cells, the
Longer the Shelf-life Shelf-life is one of the
factors that is influenced by the cutting process.
Simply put, the lower the damage to the cells of the
fruit and vegetables, the longer the shelf-life. In fact,
there are different compounds within the cells that
will be affected by the damage to the cell wall. Among
these compounds, for instance, enzymes will be
released and activated, leading to more and/or faster
degradation of the cells.
In this research, the effect of different knife set-
ups on the physicochemical changes of diced onions
is investigated to understand the practical influence
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of cutting on their shelf-life.

The Cutting Process

and its Effects on Fresh Food

When it comes to industrial food cutting equipment, designing and manufacturing new products
are very important. The research on the cutting process definitely has an effect on the resulting
product. In this article, we will provide you the research on shelf-life of cut onions.

What’s in a Plant? Fruits and vegetables are living tissues and their metabolic Research for the Cutting of Fresh
processes continue even after harvest; they are highly perishable products that Produce There is a great demand now for
require optimal processing to maintain their storage stability and extend their shelf- vegetables and fruit and for plant-based foods in
life vs. the period within which they retain acceptable quality for consumer sales. general. It seems that customers care more about
Plant tissues suffer physical damages from the cutting that make them much food sustainability. Considering the fact that cutting
more perishable than when the original product is intact. Moreover, processing is a vital step for the minimally processed foods, a
results in a stress response by the produce: they show an increased (wound) more systematic and scientific approach are applied
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respiration rate and ethylene production, which leads to faster metabolic rates and to see the effect of cutting on physicochemical
therefore shorter shelf-life. properties of the processed fresh produce.
Intact onion cells, for instance, have no odor. But when cells are disrupted, the To improve the cut quality, we had to address
enzyme alliinase is released, leading to the production of pyruvate, ammonia and the product guidance. The geometry of the slicing
many volatile sulfur compounds associated with flavor and odor. That’s why it is knife was optimized to produce a cleaner first cut.
important to control and monitor the size reduction process for onions, and for any Then the product is guided meticulously through the
other produce for that matter. circular and crosscut knife spindles leading to a
The physicochemical properties of the foods before and after this step of the precise cut and higher yield with less slivers and
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process are monitored , to better understand the effect of the cutting process on the fines.
final products.

ข้้อมููลเพิ่่�มูเติ่มู/Additional Information
1 FAM, a company that actives in the industrial food cutting
equipment for 40 years

52 FOOD FOCUS THAILAND MAY 2021

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