Abstract
In order to assess the basic cooking and processing properties of Aqua-gas treated food materials, a comparison between the Aqua-gas treatment and boiling and steaming using conventional cooking methods was undertaken with green soybeans as the test material.
The quality was assessed on the basis of its properties, color and organoleptic test results.
The results are as follows.
1. The physical properties of the Aqua-gas-treated green soybeans showed lower values of “hardness” and “crunchy texture” with the heating time, and became gradually softer.
However, the values of “adhesiveness” and “adherability” gradually increased for 15 minutes, then decreased.
The change in the physical properties with the boiling and steaming heating time was different for the Aqua-gas-treated material.
2. As for the change in the color of the green soybeans based on the heating time, the difference was due to the heating method.
In the Aqua-gas and the steaming heating, the a* and b* values and the chroma saturation significantly changed after ten minutes, and the green became discolored. During boiling, the color significantly changed by heating for seven minutes.
3. As for the color of the green soybeans heated with the pod, a difference based on the heating method occurred. The values of a*, b* and the chromas of the Aqua-gas-treated green soybeans were the highest. For the three kinds of heating methods, the Aqua-gas-treated green soybeans had bright green. However, for each heating method, a remarkable difference was not observed in the color of the heated green soybeans (heating without pods).
4. he green soybeans chilled for preserving, had become discolored during storage when preserving by light irradiation. However, the change when preserving was slight when shading and preserving, and no difference in three kinds of heating methods was seen.
5. As for the result of the organoleptic evaluation, the evaluation of the Aqua-gas heating was the highest of the three kinds of heating methods, and the superiority of the Aqua-gas heating was suggested. For the color of the green soybeans, the measurements from the evaluation of the color by the organoleptic evaluation and the color-difference meter were similar. The measurements based on the evaluation of the hardness and the texture during the organoleptic evaluation and by the texture analyzers were also similar.
