Assessment of apricots suitability for shock freezing according to physical and technological quality indicators

Abstract

fruit from the weight of the frozen fruit. The sensory characteristic of apricots was given on a five-point scale. The greatest losses of their juice were caused by slow freezing (t = –25 °C), and the minimum — fast (t = –35 °C). The losses of juice also changed depending on the initial temperature of fresh fruits (t = 0, 5, 16 and 22 °C) before low-temperature exposure. At all temperature modes of shock freezing, the lowest juice yield was observed when the temperature of fresh fruits was adjusted to 0 ° C before freezing. The losses of juice of fruits during defrosting increased with increasing shelf life. By the end of the nine-month storage (t = –18 °C), the apricots Uncukulskiy pozdniy, Shalah and Krasnoshcheky are classified as «good,» and Uzden and Honobah are «satisfactory.» Good tasting ratings — 4.2; 4.1 and 4.1 points, received apricots Shalah, Uncukulskiy pozdniy and Krasnoshcheky, respectively. They turned out to be the best in terms of physicochemical indicators. The yield of defective fruits after nine months of storage (t = –18 °C) was 90.0 % (Uncukulskiy pozdniy, 92.6 % (Shalah). The use of microwave treatment of apricots has proved to be a more efficient method of defrosting these fruits compared to traditional defrosting in air and water.