Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

X-ray microtomography provides new insights into vacuum impregnation of spinach leaves

Panarese, Valentina ; Herremans, Els ; Cantre, Dennis ; Demir, Eda LU ; Vicente, Antonio ; Gomez, Federico LU ; Nicolai, Bart M and Verboven, Pieter (2016) In Journal of Food Engineering 188. p.50-57
Abstract
Vacuum impregnation is used in the food industry to facilitate the impregnation of porous products with, e.g. firming, antioxidant, antimicrobial or cryoprotective agents. X-ray micro-tomography (μCT) was used to study the process of vacuum impregnation in spinach leaves. Low (300 mbar absolute pressure) and mild vacuum (150 mbar absolute pressure) impregnation protocols were used to impregnate an isotonic solution of trehalose in the leaves and μCT was used to make observations of the cross section of the impregnated samples and quantify their porosity. Results revealed that the free volume in the spongy mesophyll is easier to impregnate than the spaces around the palisade mesophyll. The low vacuum impregnation protocol provoked less... (More)
Vacuum impregnation is used in the food industry to facilitate the impregnation of porous products with, e.g. firming, antioxidant, antimicrobial or cryoprotective agents. X-ray micro-tomography (μCT) was used to study the process of vacuum impregnation in spinach leaves. Low (300 mbar absolute pressure) and mild vacuum (150 mbar absolute pressure) impregnation protocols were used to impregnate an isotonic solution of trehalose in the leaves and μCT was used to make observations of the cross section of the impregnated samples and quantify their porosity. Results revealed that the free volume in the spongy mesophyll is easier to impregnate than the spaces around the palisade mesophyll. The low vacuum impregnation protocol provoked less impregnation close to the edge of the leaf than in its centre, probably accounting for an influence of the tissue structure on impregnation. The vacuum impregnation protocols tested in this investigation drastically decreased the proportion of large pores (>100 μm) and increased the proportion of small pores (<50 μm). The mild vacuum impregnation protocol, which was designed on the basis of measured apparent porosity, did not achieve full impregnation of the tissue. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Journal of Food Engineering
volume
188
pages
50 - 57
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:84969135536
  • wos:000380624200006
ISSN
0260-8774
DOI
10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2016.05.013
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
6506ecca-ebc0-452c-918e-296851410194
date added to LUP
2016-05-31 12:18:06
date last changed
2025-04-04 14:58:20
@article{6506ecca-ebc0-452c-918e-296851410194,
  abstract     = {{Vacuum impregnation is used in the food industry to facilitate the impregnation of porous products with, e.g. firming, antioxidant, antimicrobial or cryoprotective agents. X-ray micro-tomography (μCT) was used to study the process of vacuum impregnation in spinach leaves. Low (300 mbar absolute pressure) and mild vacuum (150 mbar absolute pressure) impregnation protocols were used to impregnate an isotonic solution of trehalose in the leaves and μCT was used to make observations of the cross section of the impregnated samples and quantify their porosity. Results revealed that the free volume in the spongy mesophyll is easier to impregnate than the spaces around the palisade mesophyll. The low vacuum impregnation protocol provoked less impregnation close to the edge of the leaf than in its centre, probably accounting for an influence of the tissue structure on impregnation. The vacuum impregnation protocols tested in this investigation drastically decreased the proportion of large pores (&gt;100 μm) and increased the proportion of small pores (&lt;50 μm). The mild vacuum impregnation protocol, which was designed on the basis of measured apparent porosity, did not achieve full impregnation of the tissue.}},
  author       = {{Panarese, Valentina and Herremans, Els and Cantre, Dennis and Demir, Eda and Vicente, Antonio and Gomez, Federico and Nicolai, Bart M and Verboven, Pieter}},
  issn         = {{0260-8774}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{50--57}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Journal of Food Engineering}},
  title        = {{X-ray microtomography provides new insights into vacuum impregnation of spinach leaves}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2016.05.013}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2016.05.013}},
  volume       = {{188}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}