Vacuum-steam pulsed blanching: An emerging method to enhance texture softening, drying behavior and physicochemical properties of Cornus officinalis

Vacuum steam pulsed blanching (VSPB) was employed as a novel blanching technology on Cornus officinalis to soften the tissue for subsequent coring and dehydration. The current work aims to explore its effect on mass transfer behavior, PPO inactivation, drying characteristics, physicochemical properties, antioxidant capacity, and microstructure of C. officinalis. Results showed that VSPB increased water loss, decreased solid gain, and increased weight reduction with increased blanching cycles. Besides, VSPB significantly changed physical properties and extensively reduced drying time which was attributed to the cell wall components dissolving and cell turgor pressure decreasing, also verified by observing microstructure alteration. PPO was completely denatured after blanching in 6 cycles, but phenolic compounds were still diffused or degraded. Notably, the content of flavonoids and antioxidant capacity significantly increased compared to fresh samples probably due to increased extractability caused by the disrupting cell structure. Besides, the carotenoids and ascorbic acid could be well preserved.