Fresh-cut potatoes (FCP), like other fresh-cut (minimally processed) vegetables, are a convenient but highly perishable product. Unlike most fresh-cut vegetables, which are “ready-to-eat”, FCP must be cooked before consumption. Therefore, in addition to the safety (chemical and microbiological), quality and sensory characteristics of raw FCP, the same requirements should be applied for cooked potatoes. It is known that many factors play a role in meeting all these requirements: (i) selection of cultivars less susceptible to browning; (ii) use of anti-browning and antimicrobial agents and/or certain physical methods against browning and microbial growth; (iii) packaging and cold storage conditions. In recent studies on FCP, scientists have attempted to deepen their knowledge of the mechanisms of browning prevention to better understand changes at the molecular level as well. The main objective of this review is to provide a comprehensive overview of recent research, which aimed at deepening knowledge of the various changes that occur in potatoes during processing, and to develop new approaches that could help improve quality and extend FCP shelf life. It also discusses the effects of subsequent cooking of FCP on sensory and other properties, as well as on chemical constituents.
Ultrasound process parameters had infl uence on the temperature increase as result of wave propagation throughout medium. Cavitation as the most accepted mechanism is based on the implosion of bubbles in surrounding media (Bosiljkov et al., 2011; Brncic et al., 2010; Price et al., 2010; Thiemann et al., 2011). Effi ciency of cavitation mechanism depends on applied frequency, intensity and physical properties of observed sample. When applied frequency increase, the number of formed bubbles gets higher, while diameter of bubbles is smaller with minimal quantity of released energy during implosion. At the frequency of 132 kHz the bubble has twice smaller than at 68 kHz (Figure 1) (Price et al., 2010; Feng and Barbosa – Canovas, 2011; Ashokkumar, 2011). Fat content is the most important component in raw milk. Propagation of ultrasonic waves in milk with a lower proportion of fatty phase is faster which helping to create a large number of smaller cavitation bubbles whose implosion released a large amount of heat energy which causes an immediate rise in temperature (Cucheval and Chow, 2008). Increasing of temperature as a consequence of high intensity ultrasound may cause alternation on physical properties of milk as changes in temperature, pH – value, density and absorbance. BryORIGINAL SCIENTIFIC PAPER