Evaluation of the Instrumental Quality of Pressure-Assisted Thermally Processed Carrots

This study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of pressure-assisted thermal processing (PATP)
in preserving the texture, color, and carotene content of carrot cylinders in the pressure range of 500 to 700MPa and
the temperature range of 95 to 121 ◦C. The effectiveness of PATP was compared with that of conventional thermal
processing(TP)bymatchingcarrotpreprocesstemperaturehistory.Results indicated thatundercomparableprocess
temperatures (up to 105 ◦C), PATP retained the carrot quality attributes such as color and carotene content better
than TP. However, process and preprocess thermal history at 121 ◦C greatly influenced carrot textural change and
pressure protective effects were less pronounced. This study demonstrated that PATP has the potential to produce
low-acid foods with a relatively better quality than TP.