THERMAL KINETICS OF COLOR CHANGES IN PEA PUREE

Change in food color is associated with heat treatment of the food. Retention of food color after thermal processing may be used to predict the extent of Quality deterioration of food resulting from exposure to heat Samples of green pea puree were heat treated for different lengths of time at several temperatures to determine thermal destruction of color. Hunter color scale values (L, a, and b) from heat treated samples were analyzed to determine the kinetics of color change due to heat treatment. Color changes followed first-order reaction kinetics. Reaction rate and activation energy, as well as D and z values of color degradation, were determined experimentally. The determined D and z values for (-La/b) were 31.10 min and 42.87 degrees C, respectively. These values were used to estimate the color change of pea puree processed in cylindrical plastic cans. The estimated colors were compared with experimentally determined color values under identical processing conditions. Good agreement was found between the estimated and experimental color retentions.