Vegetable Piece Freshness via Blanching, Acidification, and HPP
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Developing a high-quality, nutritious, and cost-effective packaged food product suitable for commercial production that maintains the freshness and organoleptic properties of vegetable components for extended periods, particularly challenging due to labor-intensive preparation and storage issues in omelet and scrambled egg items.
Innovation Solution
A packaged food product comprising a cup with sealed pouches containing vegetable components that undergo blanching, acidification, freezing, and high-pressure processing to inhibit enzyme action and maintain freshness for 75 to 90 days, along with additional ingredients like meats and cheeses, allowing for microwave cooking and maintaining taste, texture, and nutritional content.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If vegetable components are manually prepared and stored for later use, then labor-intensive preparation and storage issues occur, but freshness and organoleptic properties degrade over time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-cooking vegetables through blanching and then rapidly freezing them at below -18°C before packaging. This preliminary processing preserves the vegetables' organoleptic properties and extends shelf life to 75-90 days without requiring continuous manual monitoring or storage intervention, resolving the contradiction between maintaining freshness and extending storage time
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes parameter changes by transitioning vegetables from fresh state through blanching (thermal treatment) to frozen state (temperature change below -18°C). This parameter transformation fundamentally alters the preservation mechanism, enabling long-term storage while maintaining quality, thus resolving the time-freshness contradiction
2Productivity
If vegetable pieces are diced into small dimensions for packaging, then packaging efficiency improves, but surface area to volume ratio increases leading to faster quality degradation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by rapidly freezing diced vegetables to below -18°C, which fundamentally alters the metabolic and enzymatic activity parameters. This temperature parameter change prevents quality degradation despite the high surface area to volume ratio of diced pieces, allowing efficient packaging while maintaining quality
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces mechanical preservation methods (such as refrigeration at higher temperatures) with a thermal parameter change (rapid freezing to below -18°C). This substitution creates a more effective preservation system that maintains quality in diced vegetables during long-term storage, resolving the contradiction between packaging efficiency and quality retention
3Adaptability or versatility
If extended storage and shipment time is allowed, then distribution flexibility improves, but organoleptic properties deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes phase transitions by freezing vegetables into a solid state at below -18°C and maintaining them in this phase during storage and shipment. This phase transition effectively halts enzymatic and microbial degradation processes, preserving organoleptic qualities while enabling extended distribution flexibility of 75-90 days without quality loss
4Duration of action of stationary object
If conventional packaging and storage methods are used, then simplicity is maintained, but shelf life is limited to a few days
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by implementing a comprehensive pre-processing sequence including blanching, rapid freezing, and sealed packaging before distribution. This preliminary action extends shelf life from a few days to 75-90 days, and while the processing complexity increases, the extended shelf life provides significant operational benefits that justify the additional processing steps
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes parameter changes through controlled thermal processing (blanching temperature and time) and rapid freezing (temperature rate and final temperature below -18°C). These controlled parameter changes fundamentally extend the shelf life while maintaining a manageable processing system that can be implemented in commercial food production facilities
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution ensures the packaged food product retains organoleptic qualities similar to fresh vegetables for an extended period, facilitating efficient commercial production and reducing waste, while allowing for easy preparation and consumption.
Implementation Method 1
blanching the vegetable pieces for a predetermined period of time at a temperature effective to inhibit enzyme action detrimental to organoleptic properties, and to have an antimicrobial effect
Implementation Method 2
acidifying the vegetable pieces in acid media for a period of time sufficient to have a further antimicrobial effect without unacceptably affecting organoleptic properties
Implementation Method 3
freezing the vegetable pieces to a temperature of below 5° F. using an IQF technique
Implementation Method 4
subjecting the vegetables to an HPP process; wherein the process enables freshness of the vegetable pieces to be maintained in the sealed containers at refrigerated temperatures for 75 to 90 days
Data Source
AI summary
A packaged food product and methods of making and using it. In some embodiments. The packaged food product may comprise a cup containing multiple ingredients in sealed pouches suitable for use in making an omelet or other egg-based entrées, with the cup being suitable for microwave cooking of an egg-based entrée. The ingredients may include vegetable components that offer organoleptic properties similar to those of fresh vegetables after an extended period of time. Ideally, time required for processing, shipment, storage, etc., which may be, e.g., several weeks, may pass without unacceptable degradation of taste, texture, mouth feel, flavor, aroma, color, nutritional content or other important qualities. In some embodiments, the ingredients may also include additional components, such as, for example, one or more meats, and/or one or more varieties of cheese.