Abstract:

The ultrasound-assisted freezing process is a novel technique for food freezing.The total water content and ice crystals size distribution in frozen wet gluten were studied for understanding how ultrasound improves the quality of frozen food intrinsically, and establishing the engineering base for applying the ultrasound-assisted freezing novel technique to food engineering.The total water content of wet gluten frozen under different conditions and preserved with different times was determined.It was found that the total water content of wet gluten frozen in ultrasonic field was higher than that of the conventional freezing process after the frozen storage time.The shape and size distribution of ice crystals in the frozen wet gluten were studied indirectly by microscopy and mercury porosimeter.It was revealed that the ultrasound-assisted freezing process could result in uniform distribution of small ice crystals formation to reduce the deterioration of gluten network and so as to improve the quality of frozen food.