J. Alonso et al., EFFECT OF CALCIUM PRETREATMENTS ON THE TEXTURE OF FROZEN CHERRIES - ROLE OF PECTINESTERASE IN THE CHANGES IN THE PECTIC MATERIALS, Journal of agricultural and food chemistry, 43(4), 1995, pp. 1011-1016
Pretreatments by immersion in 10 and 100 mM CaCl2 prevent the loss in
firmness of sweet frozen cherries. This effect can even be detected in
fruits preserved for 6 months in a frozen state. The increase in firm
ness, through the treatments, is mostly apparent after freezing and is
attributed to the formation of calcium bridges in the pectic material
, caused by a decrease in the degree of, esterification of pectins and
an increase in the pectic fraction soluble in EDTA and the Ca2+ catio
n content in the cell wall. These changes in the pectic materials are
of an enzymatic origin, since we observed an increase in the pectinest
erase activity of the fruits after treatments with increasing calcium
concentrations.