Modelling the change in colour of broccoli and green beans during blanching

Abstract The green colour of vegetables changes considerably during heat treatments like blanching. Green beans from two different countries and growing seasons, and the stems and florets of broccoli were heat-treated from 40 up to 96°C. The colour was monitored with the CIE-Lab system. Expressing the green colour as −a*/b* proved to considerably reduce the observed variance within measuring samples. It can be considered as a kind of internal standardisation. The colour was modelled by a simplified kinetic mechanism of two consecutive reactions: one that increases colour, one that degrades colour. First, all data sets were analysed separately using non-linear regression. The obtained percentage variance accounted for (R2adj) ranged from 75.7 to 90.8%. Allowing separate initial conditions but with the kinetic parameters in common, the data of the same vegetable type (green beans and broccoli separately) could be pooled and analysed together (R2adj=87.4 and 77.2%, respectively). The kinetic parameters obtained were so similar that a complete pooled and generic analysis was possible even for green beans and broccoli together. These findings greatly validate the developed model and indicate that the formation and degradation of visible colour in vegetables is governed by processes related to the colouring compounds (like chlorophyll and chlorophilides), irrespective of the vegetables under study.