Evaluation of dry microwave and hot water blanching on physicochemical, textural, functional and organoleptic properties of Indian gooseberry (Phyllanthus emblica)

Indian gooseberry (Phyllanthus emblica) is a seasonal and highly nutritious fruit with shorter shelf-life and astringent taste limiting its utilization. The enzymatic browning and flavor loss are major concerns which makes pre-processing a crucial step for further processing. In this context, dry microwave blanching (MWB) was explored as an alternative to hot-water (HW) blanching to reduce its nutrition losses particularly ascorbic acid (AA) and makes it easier for removal of seed kernel. This study focused on the effect of MW power level (200–500 W) and blanching time (50–100 s) on AA content, color attributes (L*, a*, b*), and enzymatic inhibition in Indian gooseberry. The optimized MWB conditions were 294 W MW power with 70 s blanching time providing satisfactory enzymatic inhibition (75.47%), and retention of AA (417.70 mg/100 g pulp) and color attributes (L*: 58.42, a*: 4.57, b*: 26.23). As compared to HWB (80 °C, 5 min), MWB showed least AA degradation, higher total phenolic content and softening percent with less total color difference owing to its shorter processing time and dry blanching. Quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA) demonstrated that raw and MW blanched Indian gooseberries are the most accepted, followed by HW blanched samples. MWB showed better nutrient retention than HWB with easier seed removal showed the application of MW radiation for blanching of other fruits.