EFFECT OF SELECTED MINIMAL PROCESSING TECHNIQUES IN CASSAVA TUBERSHEMASANKARI PALANI, M.S. SAJEEV, S. SUNDARESAN, S.K. NANDA AND PADMAJAAbstract Minimal Processing is the technique to process a fruit or vegetable commodity to a minimum level for maximum shelf life while maintaining its freshness nearly intact. The rapid perishability of fresh cassava tuber imposes a limitation in its marketing and consumption. In view of this, fresh cassava tubers of variety,â Sree Vijayaâ were subjected to minimal processing techniques of steaming, dipping in hot water (98 oC), dipping in hot oil (190 oC) and microwave oven treatments. Steaming, dipping in hot water as well as the microwave oven treatments were conducted for 1,2,3,4 and 5 min time intervals using peeled cassava chips of 2,4,6,8 and 10 mm thickness. The time of treatment for dipping in hot oil, however, was resricted to 15, 30 and 45 seconds. Quality factors such as crumbling, cracking, odour and surface gelatinization, were observed. The fresh sample served as the control. Shelf life studies were done for tubers packed in 28μ thick polythene bags of 21 à 15 cm size at ambient (30 oC) and refrigerated (5 oC) condition, by regular visual observations for any microbial attack. Significant difference in starch was found in case of 2,4 6 and 8 mm thick chips dipped in hot water. The weight loss parameter was statistically analysed at 5% level of significance using Anova for all the 4 techniques. Micro wave oven treatment of fresh cassava chip samples is observed to be the most effective minimal processing technique. The shelf life of the product could be enhanced to 3 days, compared to 2 days in low temperature storage for the control, and the product also has maximum resemblance with the fresh chips in its quality attributes. |