Influence of low temperature blanching on the content of valuable substances and sensory properties in ready-to-use salads Original Research Article

Low-temperature (lt) blanching of endive combined with cold storage at 4 °C and 97% relative humidity for two days reduced polyphenol content and antioxidant capacity of endive to about 50% compared to the salad washed with cold water. 75% of initial contents could be determined in cold washed samples after two days of cold storage. The evaluation of sensory properties resulted in a fresh, tender and crispy texture, a slightly bitter taste, a deep green color and a wet grassy odour for the lt-blanched endive directly tested. However, cold storage for two days under laboratory conditions and not yet optimized strongly reduced the quality of all lt-blanched samples except that originated from 50 °C/10 min processing.