Firmness of carrot slices submerged in brines: experimental data and mathematical model

Abstract

The firmness of carrot slices was measured at various temperatures for several concentrations of brines in sodium chloride and lactic acid. A model assuming that textural decay is due to irreversible, pseudo first-order enzyme-catalyzed degradation of the carrot cell wall polysaccharides in the presence of two alternative paths for first order enzyme deactivation was fitted to the aforementioned data sets. The physicochemical and statistical significance of the model and fits were evaluated and discussed. The model is useful for predictions of the textural decay based on reasonable physicochemical considerations in a wide range of brine specifications with practical interest.