vegetable processing

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vegetable processing

Written by Joseph J. Jen, R. Paul Singh•All

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vegetable processing, preparation of vegetables for use by humans as food.

Vegetables consist of a large group of plants consumed as food. Perishable when fresh but able to be preserved by a number of processing methods, they are excellent sources of certain minerals and vitamins and are often the main source of dietary fibre. The consumption of vegetables has increased significantly as consumers have become more health-conscious. Owing to the perishable nature of the fresh produce, international trade in vegetables is mostly confined to the processed forms.

Structure and composition

Vegetables can be classified by edible parts into root (e.g., potatoes and carrots), stem (asparagus and celery), leaf (lettuce and spinach), immature flower bud (broccoli and brussels sprouts), and fruit (tomatoes and cucumbers). The four basic types are illustrated in Figure 1.

Aging and spoilage

Depending on the class of vegetable, there are differences in the structure, size, shape, and rigidity of the individual cells. The fresh market shelf life and processing requirements are also very different. Vegetable cells, as plant cells, have rigid cell walls and are glued together by various polysaccharides such as cellulose, hemicellulose, and pectin. Once vegetables are harvested from the fields, the cells, now deprived of nutrient supplies normally obtained from soils and the air, go into senescence, or aging. The most noticeable structural change in senescent vegetables is softening, or loss of texture. Softening is caused by natural enzymatic reactions that degrade the plant cell walls. A large group of enzymes is involved in the senescence stage, including cellulase, pectinase, hemicellulase, proteinase, and others. After these enzymes break open the cells, chemical oxidation reactions take place and the vegetables develop off-flavours and loss of nutritional value. Broken cells are also much more easily subject to microbial attacks, which quickly lead to spoilage. In addition, even though the vegetables may be packaged or bagged, the plant cells continue to respire, or break down carbohydrates for energy needs. Respiration leads to loss of quality, so that eventually the products are unsuitable for human consumption.

Nutritional value

The four quality factors of vegetables are colour, texture, flavour, and nutritive values. Fresh vegetables are purchased on the basis of colour and texture, but repeated purchases are made on the basis of flavour and nutritional content. The major nutrients contributed by vegetables to the human diet are dietary fibre (both soluble and insoluble), minerals (calcium, phosphorus, iron, sodium, potassium), and vitamins (vitamin C, vitamin A, thiamine, niacin, folic acid). The nutrient composition of selected vegetables is shown in the Table.

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Nutrient composition of selected vegetables and vegetable products (per 100 g)*
vegetable or vegetable product	energy (kcal)	water (g)	carbohydrate (g)	vitamin C (mg)	thiamin (mg)	riboflavin (mg)	niacin (mg)	vitamin A (IU)	fat (g)	protein (g)
*Values shown are approximations; actual nutrient composition can vary greatly depending on such factors as growing conditions, time of harvest, and storage.
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Composition of Foods, Agriculture Handbook no. 8–11.
asparagus, canned	14	94.63	2.25	16.4	0.054	0.089	0.851	474	0.19	1.80
asparagus, raw	23	92.40	4.54	13.2	0.140	0.128	1.170	583	0.20	2.28
cabbage, raw	25	92.15	5.43	32.2	0.050	0.040	0.300	133	0.27	1.44
carrots, raw	43	87.79	10.14	9.3	0.097	0.059	0.928	28,129	0.19	1.03
Chinese cabbage, raw	13	95.32	2.18	45.0	0.040	0.070	0.500	3,000	0.20	1.50
corn, sweet, raw	86	75.96	19.02	6.8	0.200	0.060	1.700	281	1.18	3.22
corn on the cob, frozen	98	71.79	23.50	7.2	0.103	0.088	1.681	246	0.78	3.28
lettuce, iceberg, raw	13	95.89	2.09	3.9	0.046	0.030	0.187	330	0.19	1.01
peas, green, frozen	77	79.93	13.70	18.0	0.258	0.100	1.707	727	0.37	5.21
peas, green, raw	81	78.86	14.46	40.0	0.266	0.132	2.090	640	0.40	5.42
potato chips	536	1.90	52.90	31.1	1.167	0.197	3.827	0	34.60	7.00
potatoes, mashed, dry flakes	354	6.51	81.21	83.6	1.031	0.110	6.146	0	0.39	8.35
potatoes, raw	79	78.96	17.98	19.7	0.088	0.035	1.484	0	0.10	2.07
tomato juice, canned	17	93.90	4.23	18.3	0.047	0.031	0.673	556	0.06	0.76
tomatoes, red, ripe	21	93.76	4.64	19.1	0.059	0.048	0.628	628	0.33	0.85
tomatoes, sun-dried	258	14.56	55.76	39.2	0.528	0.489	9.050	874	2.97	14.11

Certain vegetables contribute lipids to the diet, mostly in the form of unsaturated oils. Roots and legumes can be important contributors of dietary proteins—especially in developing countries, where animal proteins are scarce. One potential nutritional problem of obtaining proteins from a single vegetable source is the low concentration of essential amino acids in vegetables. Twenty common amino acids are considered to be building blocks of proteins for the body. Of these 20, the body cannot synthesize 8; these 8 must be obtained from foods. Most vegetable proteins are low in one of the eight essential amino acids; for example, corn is low in lysine, and soybeans are low in methionine. However, if proteins are obtained from a proper mixture of vegetables, there will not be a nutritional problem.

It is a common misconception that fresh vegetables are always superior in nutritional value to processed vegetables. Several investigations have shown frozen or canned vegetables can actually have higher nutritional value than fresh products. Fresh vegetables are subject to quality and vitamin losses during transportation and storage, whereas processing before these losses occur can yield a nutritionally superior product. Research has shown that a major cause of nutrient loss in vegetables is in the draining of cooking or processing liquids.