Introduction:

The development of high-quality plant-based ready-to-eat food options can respond to today’s dietary demands. The trend of consumers opting for a plant-based diet is on the rise; however, they have few options for ready-to-eat products. The aim of this study was to develop a ready-to-eat plant product enriched with polyphenols using vacuum technologies.

Methodology:

The physicochemical, sensory and microbiological characteristics of the product were evaluated. A lasagna was designed (layers of vegetables of regional origin -sweet potato (Ipomea batata L.), zucchini (Curcubita pepo L.) and dried tomato- interspersed with a binder and cheese) ready to eat, which were vacuum impregnated with an extract of polyphenols (95% oligomeric proanthocyanidins) from grape seeds. The concentration of polyphenols was measured by the Folin-Ciocalteu colorimetric method. The commercial life in refrigeration (0-3 °C) of the culinary preparation was determined, evaluating pH, color, texture and microbial count of aerobic and anaerobic psychrotrophic bacteria, lactic acid bacteria, molds and yeasts following techniques established in ISO standards. The sensory evaluation was carried out with regular consumers of ready-to-eat products. They evaluated the appreciation of sensory attributes and the general acceptability of the sample on a 9-point hedonic scale.

Results:

In this study, a ready-to-consume preparation with 220 mg of GAE/100 was designed, which could contribute to the daily intake of polyphenols. The values of weight variation and pH (from 5.2 to 5.5) did not present significant variations during the 21 days of storage studied. The surface color parameters (L*, a* and b*) did not change until day 7. The firmness of the culinary preparation decreased over the storage time (from 4.2 to 2.9 N/mm). The microbial counts were consistent with those of an innocuous product (less than 10 CFU/g). This study demonstrated that the sous vide cooking method improved the refrigerated storage time of the preparation since the microbial load was maintained at safe levels. The sensory evaluation showed a positive acceptance by consumers for most of the sensory characteristics of the designed product.

Conclusions:

The technologies used, sous vide and vacuum impregnation, could enhance the gastronomic quality of the product, preserve the organoleptic and nutritional properties and guarantee its safety. The designed product could be an option to incorporate ready-to-eat vegetable dish preparations into the market and thus contribute to increasing the consumption of vegetables.

Funding:

The work was carried out with the financial support of the University of Entre Ríos (UNER).

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