Physico-Chemical and Structural Characteristics of Vegetables Cooked Under Sous-Vide, Cook-Vide, and Conventional Boiling.

ABSTRACT

In this paper, physico-chemical and structural properties of cut and cooked purple-flesh potato, green bean pods, and carrots have been studied. Three different cooking methods have been applied traditional cooking (boiling water at 100 °C), cook-vide (at 80 and 90 °C) and sous-vide (at 80 °C and 90 °C). Similar firmness was obtained in potato applying the same cooking time using traditional cooking (100 °C), and cook-vide and sous-vide at 90 °C, while in green beans and carrots the application of the sous-vide (90 °C) required longer cooking times than cook-vide (90 °C) and traditional cooking (100 °C). Losses in anthocyanins (for purple-flesh potatoes) and ascorbic acid (for green beans) were higher applying traditional cooking. ß-Carotene extraction increased in carrots with traditional cooking and cook-vide (P < 0.05). Cryo-SEM micrographs suggested higher swelling pressure of starch in potatoes cells cooked in contact with water, such as traditional cooking and cook-vide. Traditional cooking was the most aggressive treatment in green beans because the secondary walls were reduced compared with sous-vide and cook-vide. Sous-vide preserved organelles in the carrot cells, which could explain the lower extraction of ß-carotene compared with cook-vide and traditional cooking. Sous-vide cooking of purple-flesh potato is recommended to maintain its high anthocyanin content. Traditional boiling could be recommended for carrots because increase ß-carotenes availability. For green beans, cook-vide, and sous-vide provided products with higher ascorbic acid content.