EFFECT OF PRE-TREATMENT ON QUALITATIVE INDICES OF WHITE ROOTS

In the work, various technological methods are presented of preliminary processing of celery and parsnip roots to prevent their darkening during cooking in restaurants. These methods are: immersing in a citric acid solution (c = 0.05 %, 0.1 %, 0.15 %), in solution NaCl (c = 0. 5%, 1 %, 2 %), and microwave processing in various modes. The activity of peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase, and ascorbate oxidase enzymes of root crops in the varietal section is also determined. Fresh white roots were selected as research objects: celery of the varieties Yablucnyy and Diamant, and parsnip of the varieties Student and Kruhlyy. It was revealed that polyphenol oxidase shows the highest activity. In order to inactivate the above-stated oxidoreductase, different methods of treating white roots were compared, too. The lowest oxidative enzymes activity was characteristic of the roots of the Diamant varieties and the parsnip roots of the Student variety, which were selected for further work. Studies have been carried out on changes in the mass fraction of L-ascorbic acid during steam blasting and microwave processing in different modes. It is proved that the treatment of white roots with ultra high frequency irradiation at 650 W for 1 minute is optimal. Such treatment allowes preventing the darkening of the raw material after its peeling due to the action of oxidation-reducing enzymes. It also allows preserving L-ascorbic acid by 64.6 % and 65.0 % in the roots of celery and parsnip, respectively. The distribution of polyphenol oxidase activity in the celery and parsnip root crop is analyzed. The results of the work can be used in preparation of dishes with the use of white roots in restaurants in order to improve technological techniques during processing of raw materials into finished products, improve its quality, and preserve L-ascorbic acid, as well as expand the range of culinary products based on spicy aromatic raw materials.