The effect of ozonated water on changes in the quality of blanched edamame during cold storage

Abstract Vegetable soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) is a seasonal vegetable and has limited shelf life. The present study aimed to determine the use of ozonated water as a sanitizer in order to extend the shelf life of blanched edamame and also to study the effect of ozonation on the quality indicators of packaged soybeans. Raw unwashed beans were used as control to test treatments beans washed and blanched in water bath at 93 ± 2 °C for 2 minutes; part of them was cooled in ice cold distilled water and part was cooled in ozonated ice cold distilled water. Chilled edamame was packed in a polypropylene bag, hermetically sealed and stored at the temperature of +4.0 °C for 21 days. The use of ozonated water for cooling the blanched edamame effectively inhibited the development of harmful microorganisms without significant color changes of pods and beans. The data obtained from the analytical hierarchy process revealed that the ozonated water used to cool blanched edamame compared to pure water did not significantly affect the change in phenolic content in 11 days of storage.