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Effect of Water Jet Cutting and Moderate Heat Treatment on Quality of Fresh-Cut Red Oak Leaf Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. var. crispa)

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Abstract

Fresh-cut red oak leaf lettuce was produced by six different processing lines in order to assess the effect of water jet cutting (nozzle diameter 0.1 mm, pressure 2,500 bar) versus blade cutting as well as washing with cold and warm water (4 and 45 °C, 120 s) prior to and after shredding, respectively. Throughout refrigerated storage (4 °C, 12 days), O2 and CO2 levels in the modified atmosphere of the consumer-sized sample bags were monitored, and fresh-cut products and process water were subjected to microbiological analysis. As further quality parameters, phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) activity as well as levels of chlorophyll a and b, β-carotene and cyanidin 3-O-(6”-O-malonyl)-glucoside were determined by HPLC with diode array detection (HPLC-DAD) and HPLC coupled with diode array detection and tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-DAD-MSn) throughout storage. Additionally, visual appearance and cut edge browning were assessed by sensorial evaluation and stereo microscopy on storage day 8. Microbiological quality throughout commercial shelf life was best retained by warm water washing of shredded lettuce. Furthermore, moderate heat treatment significantly reduced PAL activity and cut edge browning without affecting pigment contents and vitality of the lettuce tissue. Additionally, warm water treatment significantly lowered the microbial load in the process water. Throughout storage, water jet cutting did not affect the microbial, physiological and sensorial fresh-cut lettuce quality compared to blade cutting using a newly sharpened blade, thus indicating a similar degree of wounding due to the cutting techniques applied. The application of a pre-washing step prior to shredding was found to be suitable to reduce the risk of cross-contamination in subsequent process steps.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Kronen GmbH (Kehl, Germany) for the generous allocation of industrial equipment and Amcor Flexibles Europe (Bristol, UK) for kindly providing the film bags. We are also grateful to Klaus Mix for his excellent technical assistance. Valuable laboratory support and help in stereo microscopy by Martina Rebmann and Susanne Herr, respectively, is gratefully acknowledged.

Funding

The present work is part of a project financed by the Bundesprogramm Ökologischer Landbau und andere Formen nachhaltiger Landwirtschaft (BÖL, German Federal Organic Farming Scheme and Other Types of Sustainable Agriculture); support reference number: 2811OE121.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chair Plant Foodstuff Technology, Institute of Food Science and Biotechnology, Hohenheim University, Garbenstrasse 25, 70599, Stuttgart, Germany

    Sabine Wulfkuehler, Sabrina Stark, Johann Dietz & Reinhold Carle

  2. Department of Food Microbiology, Institute of Food Science and Biotechnology, Hohenheim University, Garbenstrasse 28, 70599, Stuttgart, Germany

    Herbert Schmidt & Agnes Weiss

  3. Biological Science Department, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 80257, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia

    Reinhold Carle

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  1. Sabine Wulfkuehler
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  2. Sabrina Stark
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  3. Johann Dietz
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  4. Herbert Schmidt
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  5. Agnes Weiss
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  6. Reinhold Carle
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Correspondence to Sabine Wulfkuehler.

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Wulfkuehler, S., Stark, S., Dietz, J. et al. Effect of Water Jet Cutting and Moderate Heat Treatment on Quality of Fresh-Cut Red Oak Leaf Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. var. crispa). Food Bioprocess Technol 7, 3478–3492 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11947-014-1360-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11947-014-1360-4

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