Professional Documents
Culture Documents
of Broccoli Florets
scar Hernandez-Calderon, Jorge Zazueta-Niebla, Roberto Gutierrez-Dorado,
Rosalina Iribe-Salazar, Jose Caro-Corrales, O
Marco Carrazco-Escalante, and Yessica Vazquez-Lopez
Abstract: The objective of this work was to simulate heat transfer during blanching (90 C) and hydrocooling (5 C)
of broccoli florets (Brassica oleracea L. Italica) and to evaluate the impact of these processes on the physicochemical and
nutrimental quality properties. Thermophysical properties (thermal conductivity [line heat source], specific heat capacity
[differential scanning calorimetry], and bulk density [volume displacement]) of stem and inflorescence were measured as
a function of temperature (5, 10, 20, 40, 60, and 80 C). The activation energy and the frequency factor (Arrhenius
model) of these thermophysical properties were calculated. A 3-dimensional finite element model was developed to
predict the temperature history at different points inside the product. Comparison of the theoretical and experimental
E: Food Engineering &
Materials Science
temperature histories was carried out. Quality parameters (firmness, total color difference, and vitamin C content) and
peroxidase activity were measured. The satisfactory validation of the finite element model allows the prediction of
temperature histories and profiles under different process conditions, which could lead to an eventual optimization aimed
to minimize the nutritional and sensorial losses in broccoli florets.
Practical Application: Temperature histories inside broccoli florets can be estimated during blanching and hydrocooling
at different process conditions. This could be useful to minimize nutritional and sensorial losses during blanching and
cooling of this vegetable.
E2774 Journal of Food Science r Vol. 80, Nr. 12, 2015 doi: 10.1111/1750-3841.13109
Further reproduction without permission is prohibited
Heat transfer of broccoli florets . . .
Materials Science
probe method (Espinoza-Guevara and others 2010). A probe was
inserted inside the sample and temperature change was measured
Convective heat transfer coefficient
(Caro-Corrales and others 2010). Thermal conductivity (k) was For blanching and hydrocooling, the convective heat transfer
obtained by regression analysis between temperature (T) and the coefficient (h) was evaluated using the lumped capacity method. A
natural log of time (t): broccoli floret of 60 mm length was manufactured from aluminum.
A T type thermocouple was inserted in the stem center at a
depth of 6 mm to obtain the experimental temperature histories
QL t
T T1 = ln (1) using a data acquisition system (DAQ, OMB-DAQ-56; Omega
4k t1 Engineering, Stamford, Conn., U.S.A.). The equation for the
lumped capacity method is:
where QL = I 2 R/L is heat input per unit length of line source
(W/m), I is the supplied current intensity (A), R is the probe T T hA t
resistance (), and L is the probe length (m). Coordinates (ln t1 , = e CP V (5)
T1 ) correspond to the instant that the graph of temperature against T0 T
natural log of time starts to be linear.
where T0 is the initial temperature of the aluminum floret
(20 C), T is bulk water temperature (90 C for blanching and
Specific heat capacity 5 C for hydrocooling), A and V are superficial area and volume of
A differential scanning calorimeter (DSC, TA Instruments 2920, the aluminum floret, which were measured using grid paper and
New Castle, Del., U.S.A.) was used to measure specific heat ca- the liquid displacement method; and C are bulk density and
p
pacity (Cp ). The sample size (m) was about 15 mg and the rate specific heat capacity for aluminum. The convective heat transfer
of temperature scanning (dT/dt) was 20 C/min (Caro-Corrales coefficient (h) was obtained from the slope (hA/[C V]) through
p
and others 2002). Specific heat capacity was measured from 5 to a regression analysis between ln ([T T ]/[T T ]) against time
0
90 C. The enthalpy change, H is given on the DSC curve (Caro-Corrales and others 2002).
of heat flow against temperature by the difference in heat flow
between the baseline and test material curve. The specific heat
capacity can be obtained from: Thermal center
Broccoli florets of 60 mm length were used to determine the
E H thermal center. Three different critical zones were selected for this
Cp = (2) purpose: zone I included thin stems near inflorescence, zones II
dT/dt m
and III were located in the central axis of the stem at 8 and 25 mm
where the calibration constant, E was obtained using a calibrating from its base. A T type thermocouple was inserted in each zone and
reference (sapphire) at the temperature of interest. temperature was recorded using a data acquisition module (OMB-
DAQ-56, Omega Engineering, Inc., Stamford, CT, U.S.A.). From
temperature histories for each zone, the slowest heating/cooling
Bulk density
zone for blanching/hydrocooling indicated the thermal center.
The liquid displacement method was applied to measure bulk
density (), using toluene as the liquid medium (Tocci and
Mascheroni 2008). Heat transfer modeling
Finite element modeling (ANSYS software, ANSYS Inc., re-
Thermal diffusivity lease 14.0, Irvine, CA, U.S.A.) was used for heat transfer simulation
Based on its definition, thermal diffusivity () was calculated inside a 3D broccoli floret. Transient heat transfer in a rectangular
from: coordinate system is governed by Fouriers equation:
k T
= (3) CP = T (KT) (6)
C p t
where T = ( x y z
) and K is the conductivity matrix. The the latter absorbs at 520 nm (Durust and others 1997). Results were
initial and boundary conditions employed: expressed in mg ascorbic acid/100 g of fresh sample.
can be attributable to its higher moisture content. For both ma- Table 1Activation energy (Ea ) and frequency factor (A) of ther-
terials, an adequate fitness was obtained. The trend in increasing mal conductivity (k), specific heat capacity (Cp ), and thermal
diffusivity () for stem and inflorescence.
specific heat capacity agrees with reports from Espinoza-Guevara
and others (2010). Part of Frequency
Bulk density () did not change (p > 0.05) at the studied lev- broccoli Property factor Ea (kJ/mol) R2
els of temperature. Mean bulk density was 1031 and 940 kg/m3 k (W/m K) 2.12 3.08 0.994
for stem and inflorescence, respectively. Tocci and Mascheroni Stem Cp (kJ/kg K) 23.0 4.54 0.991
(2008) reported a similar behavior when evaluating bulk density (m2 /s) 8.08108 1.73 0.951
in Kiwi from 0 to 25 C. Thermal diffusivity for stem ranged from k (W/m K) 11.0 8.20 0.986
Inflorescence Cp (kJ/kg K) 29.7 5.45 0.987
1.43 107 to 1.70 107 m2 /s and for inflorescence from 1.23 (m2 /s) 3.71107 2.55 0.931
107 to 1.62 107 m2 /s. The predictive model of this property
for stem was stem = 3.21 1010 T + 1.71 107 with in Units for the frequency factor are the same as for the correspondent thermophysical
property.
m2 /s, T in C, and R2 of 0.939, rmse = 3.06 109 m2 /s, and for
inflorescence inflorescence = 4.34 1010 T + 1.213 107 with
R2 of 0.947, rmse = 3.84 109 m2 /s. Thermal diffusivity was ture range, energy propagates faster than it is stored when heat is
Materials Science
Activation energy
The activation energy (Ea ) and the frequency factor (A) for
thermophysical properties that had a temperature dependence (k,
0.8
Cp , and ) in both materials are shown in Table 1. The higher the
A 0.731
absolute value of Ea , the stronger the dependence of the thermo-
0.692
0.7 0.647 physical property with temperature. Therefore, thermal conduc-
Thermal Conductivity (W/m K)
tivity and specific heat capacity for inflorescence (Ea of 8.20 and
0.596 0.687
0.574 5.45 kJ/mol, respectively) were the properties exhibited signifi-
0.6 0.561
cant temperature dependence. These results can be confirmed as
the regression coefficients of temperature (slope) in the predictive
0.5 0.534 models for inflorescence (0.0050 for k and 24.8 for Cp ) are higher
than those for stem (0.0024 for k and 22.0 for Cp ). From a general
0.4 0.452 point of view, thermophysical properties of inflorescence change
faster with temperature than those of stem, as indicated by their
0.375 higher Ea ; therefore, properties of inflorescence are more sensible
0.344
0.3 to the temperature change. In addition, the negative sign of acti-
0.326
Stem Inflorescence vation energy for thermal diffusivity of stem (Ea = 1.73 kJ/mol)
0.2 indicates that this property decreases as temperature increases. This
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 could be because, in the studied temperature range, the specific
heat capacity increment was higher than that in thermal conduc-
Temperature (C)
tivity.
6000
Heat transfer modeling
For blanching and hydrocooling processes, the convective heat
B transfer coefficient (h) was 1011 46 W/m2 /K (Bi = 0.013) and
5500
Specific heat capacity (J/kg K)
K, 5 replicates, = 0.05). temperature histories obtained through finite element analysis fit
properly to experimental values. The thermal center was located
at the central axial portion of the stem at 25 mm from its base; the more thermosensible zones causing the surface quality may be
therefore, this is the region that takes longer to reach the operating affected. Figure 4 displays snapshots of the temperature distribution
temperature. The highest temperature differences between the at different process times inside the broccoli floret. They confirm
thermal center and thin stems were 44.8 C at 33 s and 53.1 C the thermal center is located at the central axial portion of the
at 561 s of the process. These temperature differences are due to stem at 25 mm from its base and that thin stems near inflorescence
the irregular geometry of the broccoli and have a special role on reach faster the operating temperature.
70
25 mm (experimental)
60
Thin stems FEA, R2 = 0.997
50
8 mm FEA, R2 = 0.997
40
25 mm FEA, R2 = 0.998
30
20
10
0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200
Time (s)
Figure 4Snapshot of ANSYS model temperature distribution for broccoli florets. Numbers in legends indicate temperature (C).
quality can be due to mechanical damage from ice crystals during cooling at room temperature (B + C 25 C). Independently of
freezing. whether blanched broccoli is frozen with liquid N2 or hydro-
Total color difference (Figure 5b) ranged from 4.6 to 9.3 with cooled at 5 C or cooled at room temperature, the E showed
respect to fresh. The lowest E corresponded to blanching plus no alteration. In all treatments, the a color parameter increased
freezing with liquid N2 (B + F), whereas the largest one to blanch- respect to control, which indicates an increase in green color of
ing plus thawing after 1 month of storage (B + T 1 Mo). This vegetables. This phenomenon can be attributed to the removal of
result agrees with that reported by Patras and others (2011); they air between cells, altering the reflective properties of food surface.
analyzed the total color difference in broccoli, carrots, and green This result coincides with reports by Fernandez-Leon and others
beans at different days of storage, and E increased with storage (2012) and Olivera and others (2008).
time. Although, freezing is an effective method of food preser- Vitamin C content (Figure 5c) ranged from 99 to 153 mg/100 g
vation, some deterioration in the quality of frozen food during fresh sample (from 11.1 to 17.1 mg/g d.s.). The highest vitamin C
storage is caused. There was no difference in E of broccoli flo- Content was found in the fresh broccoli and the lowest value cor-
rets for blanching plus freezing with liquid N2 (B + F), blanching responded to blanching plus cooling at room temperature (B +
plus hydrocooling at 5 C (B + HC 5 C), and blanching plus C 25 C), which represents a 35% degradation of vitamin C with
respect to control (fresh). This loss of vitamin C can be due to the
E: Food Engineering &
slow cooling rate to remove heat inside the product; thereby caus-
Materials Science
Conclusions
The high determination coefficients (R2 > 0.997) indicated
that temperature histories estimated through finite element mod-
eling were properly fitted to the experimental results. This im-
plies that thermophysical properties in function of temperature of
stem and inflorescence and the convective heat transfer coefficient
were adequately evaluated; and the three-dimensional model
structure was suitably built for estimating temperatures in function
Figure 5(A) Firmness, (B) total color difference, and (C) vitamin C content
of broccoli florets. For color, fresh product was considered as the reference
of time inside broccoli florets during blanching and hydrocooling.
(E = 0). For firmness, E, and vitamin C, LSD was 8.18 N, 1.3, and Therefore, the finite element modeling allows a closer approxima-
10.5 mg/100 g of fresh sample, 3 replicates, = 0.05. tion to the dynamic behavior of heat transfer inside the vegetable.
The thermal center was located at the central axial portion of
the stem at 25 mm from its base. For the treatment of blanching Domnguez-Perles R, Martnez-Ballesta MC, Carvajal M, Garca-Viguera C, Moreno DA.
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