PREPARATION OF HIGH-CONSISTENCY DICED TOMATOES BY IMMERSION IN CALCIFYING SOLUTIONS - A PILOT-PLANT STUDY

A continuous process to improve the consistency of diced tomatoes base d on product immersion in calcifying solutions was developed. The proc ess efficacy was evaluated by a pilot plant built for this purpose. Th e diced tomatoes were immersed in a saline solution containing tomato serum, sodium, and calcium chloride. The pH of the calcifying solution was held constant through the process to a value close to neutrality by a device for the automatic addition of sodium hydroxide to the calc ifying solution. The results showed a substantial consistency increase in the product obtained by immersion with respect to the product obta ined by direct calcium addition. Moreover, the immersion product, cons istency being equal, shows lower calcium content. This new technology was also employed for the preparation of diced tomatoes packaged asept ically. The results showed that the consistency increment was about 20 0% more with respect to the product obtained with the traditional tech nology of aseptic packaging, whereas the other analytical parameters w ere very similar.