Digital image analysis for shrinkage evaluation in strawberries subjected to emerging processing technologies.

GAMBOA, JULIANA; LAURA CAMPAÑONE

Valencia

Congreso; 9th International Congress of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (ICIAM 2019); 2019

In fruits, strawberries in particular, appearance is an attribute of great importance. Appearance, which can be defined by color, shape, size and visual texture, not only determines the degree of maturation or the presence or absence of impurities, but also indicates the application of technological processes or prolonged storage conditions. In most cases, an excessive shrinkage of fruits negatively affects the preference and acceptance of these products by consumers [1]. Particularly, in the case of dehydrated fruits, the geometric modifications (shape and size) caused by the process are a matter of great concern to the industry. Traditional techniques for monitoring physical and physico-chemical parameters of quality usually are time consuming, costly, laborious, invasive and impracticable during in-line monitoring at the industry [2]. Computer vision techniques and digital image analysis are an attractive and economical alternative to evaluate the appearance changes of foodstuffs during processing [3].The present work aims the evaluation and correlation of morphological characteristics such as area (A), measured by digital image analysis techniques, and thickness (L) by caliber in strawberries subjected to combined treatments that include application of edible coatings (alginate-lactate), osmotic dehydration (sucrose, 60 ºB, 40 ºC, 4h) and microwave assisted drying (1,2 W/g). The digital image analysis technique suggested in this study allowed to correlate morphological data of strawberries (cross-sectional area and thickness) in order to obtain useful information to evaluate shrinkage during a microwave-assisted drying process. The proposed technique is not appropriate when the samples are subjected to a pre-treatment of osmotic dehydration. Considering the results obtained here, in fresh strawberries, the shrinkage would have an isotropic behavior during the whole drying process.[1] Aghbashlo et al. 2014. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 39, 76-84.[2] Chen et al. 2013. Trends inAnalytical Chemistry, 52, 261-274.[3] Manninen et al. 2015. LWT ? Food Science and Technology, 63, 1184-1190.