3. Freezing and quality of frozen plants

Freezing is a recognized method for preserving food quality. Its preservative power is largely due to the reduced activity of water, as a result of the water-ice phase change. Lower temperatures also slow down the kinetics of degradation reactions, and limit or even halt the development of micro-organisms.

When applied to fruit and vegetables, freezing slows down the physical, chemical and biochemical reactions that make produce perishable. After thawing, the aim is to obtain a quality product as close as possible to that consumed fresh. The quality of a fruit can be defined as its ability to retain as many of its initial characteristics as possible, or to acquire new ones during the transformation process it undergoes, in this case, freezing.

Methods for measuring overall macroscopic properties are now widespread, but the accuracy of these...