JP2001169720A - Method for reviving vegetable - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method aiming at reviving before shipping leaf vegetables which already started to wither after the lapse of a considerable time from the harvest. SOLUTION: This method for reviving leaf vegetables comprises such processes that the edges of leaf vegetable parts in contact with the ground are cut, the resultant fresh cut surfaces are exposed, and the vegetables are subjected to hot water treatment and cold water treatment followed by preserving the resultant vegetables under refrigeration.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for reviving leafy vegetables which have started to wither after a lapse of time from harvest. The present invention also relates to a method for reviving leafy vegetables that have begun to wither and recovering freshness, thereby providing fresh or processed vegetables with high freshness to the market.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art After being harvested, vegetables become less fresh and wither over time. Generally, in order to maintain freshness, it is cooled in the production area before shipping it for distribution to the market, or devised to keep the temperature low in the distribution process, or handled under refrigerated conditions. In this case, if the period from harvest to processing and consumption is short, vegetables can be distributed to the market while maintaining freshness, but it will take time until processing and consumption after harvest In this case, there is a problem that fresh vegetables begin to wither, the freshness of the vegetables decreases, and the value in the market decreases. In particular, a problem often arises that the freshness of the vegetables is reduced while the cargo stays in the distribution process, and the vegetables are withered when they are consumed.

[0003] As described above, since a certain amount of time passes before consumers consume the vegetables for eating, problems such as deterioration of taste and poor texture have arisen. Conventionally, to solve this problem, there has been no other method than shipping fresh vegetables just after harvesting and distributing and processing them without stagnation in the process after shipping.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention resuscitates leafy vegetables that have started to wither after a lapse of time from harvesting.
It aims to restore its freshness.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems The inventor of the present invention cuts the end of the ground portion of the leafy vegetable to expose a fresh cut surface, and after the leafy vegetable is treated with hot water and cold water, then The present inventors have found that leaf vegetables can be revived by storing them under refrigerated conditions, and completed the present invention.

In the present invention, the edge of the ground portion of the leafy vegetable is cut in a direction substantially perpendicular to the axial direction of the leaf of the vegetable to have a flat cross section or obliquely to the axial direction. Cut in one or more planes in the direction
Alternatively, a cross section including two or more surfaces is provided.

In the present invention, the hot water treatment and the cold water treatment are performed by immersion or shower treatment with warm water and immersion treatment or shower treatment with cold water, respectively. Further, the hot water treatment of the present invention is characterized by performing immersion treatment or shower treatment with warm water of 30 ° C to 100 ° C for 1 second to 15 minutes, and cold water treatment of 0 ° C to 2 ° C.
It is characterized by immersion treatment or shower treatment with cold water at 8 ° C. for 1 second to 20 minutes.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The method of the present invention can be mainly applied to leafy vegetables among fresh vegetables which can be eaten raw. Examples of these vegetables include, but are not limited to, spinach, komatsuna, salad greens, chisha, sunny lettuce, green curls, moroheya, lettuce, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, celery, bok choy, parsley, watercress, and the like.

According to the method of the present invention, leafy vegetables that have begun to wither after a lapse of time from harvest can be revived to restore freshness. Therefore, the method of the present invention is particularly effective for pre-shipment processing of leafy vegetables that can be mainly eaten raw, or pre-processing for manufacturing cut vegetables produced by cutting leafy vegetables. As a result, fresh or processed vegetables with high freshness and high added value can be provided to the market.

Further, according to the method of the present invention, fresh vegetables or processed leafy vegetables sold at a fresh food store such as a supermarket, a convenience store or a department store, or a restaurant, a school kitchen, an employee cafeteria, etc. The fresh or processed vegetables used can be provided in a fresh, taste and textured state.

[0011] To achieve the object of the present invention, before shipment of leafy vegetables, or before processing such as washing and cutting,
The leafy vegetables are revived by cutting the edge of the leafy vegetable to expose a fresh cut surface, then treating the leafy vegetables with hot water and cold water, and then storing them under refrigerated conditions.

In the method of the present invention, the term "leaf vegetable grounding portion" refers to a boundary region between the root portion and the stem portion of the leaf vegetable, and is slightly higher than the boundary portion between the root portion and the stem portion. The root part and the stem part slightly lower than the boundary part are included.

In the method of the present invention, "cutting the end of the ground portion of the leafy vegetable" means that the cut surface created at the time of harvest is deleted and a fresh cut surface is exposed. In this case, the cut surface may have any shape, for example, a cut surface that is substantially perpendicular to the axial direction of the vegetable leaf, or a diagonal direction to the axial direction of the vegetable leaf. There is a cut surface having a cross section composed of one or more oblique surfaces cut by one or more surfaces, or a cut surface formed by a combination thereof. More preferably,
It is better that the area of the newly exposed cut surface is large. For example, the cut surface is a cut surface having a wedge-shaped side surface composed of two or more surfaces oblique to the axial direction of the leaf of the vegetable. Further, it is preferable that a new cut surface is created by using a blade as sharp as possible.

In the method of the present invention, after cutting the end of the ground portion, hot water treatment and cold water treatment are then performed. The hot water treatment and the cold water treatment of the present invention are performed by immersion treatment or shower treatment with warm water and immersion treatment or shower treatment with cold water, respectively.

[0015] The treatment temperature and treatment time of the hot water treatment and the cold water treatment of the present invention need to be determined in consideration of the degree of withering of leafy vegetables. The processing temperature and the processing time of the hot water processing are, specifically, 1 to 30 ° C. to 100 ° C. with hot water.
It is characterized by performing immersion treatment or shower treatment for seconds to 15 minutes, preferably immersion treatment or shower treatment for 1 second to 12 minutes with warm water of 35 ° C to 70 ° C, most preferably 40 ° C.
Immerse or shower in warm water at ~ 65 ° C for 1 second to 5 minutes. The treatment temperature and treatment time of the cold water treatment are, specifically, characterized by performing a immersion treatment or a shower treatment with cold water of 0 ° C. to 28 ° C. for 1 second to 20 minutes, preferably 2 ° C.
Immersion treatment or shower treatment with cold water at ~ 15 ° C for 1 second to 15 minutes, most preferably with cold water at 4 ° C to 10 ° C for 1 second ~
Shower for 10 minutes.

After performing the hot water treatment and the cold water treatment of the present invention, the fresh vegetables are then refrigerated. The refrigeration treatment of the present invention is preferably performed at 0 ° C to 15 ° C under humidified conditions. More preferably, it is carried out at 2C to 10C, most preferably at 4C to 6C. The refrigeration treatment of the present invention is preferably performed at a humidity of 60 to 98%, more preferably at a humidity of 70 to 90%, and most preferably at a humidity of 75 to 85%. The refrigeration of leafy vegetables with the end of the ground part cut, even if the vegetables are done sideways,
You may go upright. Furthermore, the refrigeration time is 30 minutes or more, more preferably 5 hours to 24 hours, and most preferably 8 hours.
Hours to 20 hours.

As described above, the number of cut surfaces in the cutting process, or the conditions of the refrigeration treatment, the treatment conditions of the hot water treatment and the cold water treatment, are individually determined according to the implementation in consideration of the degree of wilting of leafy vegetables. Can be determined.

[0018]

The invention will be further described in the following examples, which are intended to illustrate the invention in more detail, but not to limit the scope of the invention.

Embodiment 1 FIG . Spinach resuscitation and freshness
Degrees recovered this embodiment, spinach began wilt for post-harvest time has elapsed resuscitated by resuscitation method of the present invention, was conducted to demonstrate that it is possible to recover the freshness.

Vegetables to be treated were spinach whose freshness had fallen four days after harvest and began to wither. The experimental group first cut the end of the spinach ground portion using a sharp blade in a direction almost perpendicular to the axial direction of the leaf of the vegetable to expose a fresh cut surface, and heated with 45 ° C hot water for 1 minute After immersion treatment, immersion treatment in cold water of 5 ℃ for 2 minutes, then 5 ℃
For 20 hours. On the other hand, the control group was refrigerated at 5 ° C for 20 hours by passing through tap water without exposing a fresh cut surface at the end of the grounded portion and without performing hot water treatment and cold water treatment. went.

For the experimental group and the control group, before and after the treatment, freshness of spinach was evaluated by a sensory test from the viewpoint of texture, freshness and withering. As a result, the spinach of the control group hardly recovered freshness, whereas the spinach of the experimental group treated by the resuscitation method of the present invention significantly recovered wilting as compared to before the treatment. In addition, the texture and freshness recovered.

Embodiment 2 FIG . Resuscitation and freshness recovery embodiment of Komatsuna was conducted to demonstrate that the komatsuna began wilt for post-harvest time has passed resuscitated by resuscitation method of the present invention, it is possible to recover the freshness.

This example was carried out using Komatsuna, which had fallen in freshness five days after harvest and had begun to wither. In the experimental group, first, the edge of the ground portion of Komatsuna was cut in a direction almost perpendicular to the axial direction of the leaf of the vegetable using a sharp knife to expose a fresh cut surface, and heated with 50 ° C hot water for 1 minute. After immersion treatment, immersion treatment in cold water of 5 ° C. for 3 minutes, and then refrigeration treatment at 5 ° C. for 18 hours. On the other hand, the control group was passed through tap water at 5 ° C. without exposing a fresh cut surface at the end of the ground portion and without performing hot water treatment and cold water treatment.
For 18 hours.

For the experimental group and the control group, before and after the treatment, freshness of Komatsuna was evaluated by a sensory test from the viewpoint of texture, freshness, and withering, and the freshness was evaluated. As a result, freshness hardly recovered in the control group Komatsuna, whereas in the experimental group Komatsuna treated by the resuscitation method of the present invention, wilting significantly recovered compared to before the treatment. In addition, the texture and freshness recovered.

[0025]

[Effect] According to the method of the present invention, even if the leaf vegetables once begin to wither due to the passage of time after harvest,
Freshness can be restored and revived as never before.
By processing the leafy vegetables before shipping or the leafy vegetables before processing such as washing and cutting using this method, the freshness is high and the leafy vegetables which can maintain the taste and texture longer or these It becomes possible to supply the cut vegetables stably to the market.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) cutting the edge of the ground portion of the leafy vegetables, exposing a fresh cut surface, treating the leafy vegetables with hot water treatment and cold water treatment, and then storing them under refrigerated conditions;
How to revive leafy vegetables.