Mass and heat diffusion in the blanching of vegetables

Abstract

In this work laboratory-scale experiments were carried out to determine and quantify the mechanisms by which water, sugar and other solutes are transferred from vegetable tissue to blanch water. Samples of commercial potato and carrot varieties were studied and Fick's law of diffusion was applied to describe the mass transfer of solutes during blanching of cylinders and cubes of the vegetable tissues. [Continues.]