Food Research International 34 (2001) 16

www.elsevier.com/locate/foodres

Eects of processing on kiwi fruit dynamic

rheological behaviour and tissue structure
L.N. Gerschenson a,*,1, A.M. Rojas a, A.G. Marangoni b
a

Departamento de Industrias, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
b
Department of Food Science, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada N1G 2W1
Received 14 February 2000; accepted 24 May 2000

Abstract
The eects of blanching and osmotic dehydration on the small deformation rheological properties and structure of kiwi fruit were
determined. Kiwi fruit tissue behaved as an elastic solid with storage moduli (G0 ) dominating the viscoelastic response (G00 /G0 0.2).
Both storage (G0 ) and loss (G00 )moduli were frequency independent and a clear linear viscoelastic range was evident. In general, G0
and G00 decreased upon blanching and osmotic dehydration due to tissue damage. Structural changes caused by blanching included
swelling of the cell walls and increases in the extent of cellcell separation in the middle lamella. For atmospheric osmotic
dehydration, high levels of solutes were observed within the cells which lead to a reduction of freezable water. For unripe tissue, G0
and G00 increased with vacuum dehydration and it seemed that both cell wall integrity and cellular turgor were preserved to a
greater extent than in ripe processed tissue. When calcium was added to the osmoticum during osmotic dehydration under vacuum,
no dierences in dynamic rheological behaviour or tissue structure were detected. # 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Kiwifruit; Osmotic dehydration; Rheological properties; Structure

1. Introduction
Texture is one of the most important quality attributes of fruits and vegetables. Moreover, the texture of
biological materials is strongly inuenced by their
underlying tissue and cellular structure (Aguilera Stanley, 1998; Baralt, Chiralt & Fito, 1998; Muntada, Gerschenson, Alzamora & Castro, 1998). Textural quality
of plant materials is generally negatively aected by
processing operations. For example, vegetable tissues
are usually blanched in order to inactivate enzymes and
extend shelf-life; this procedure, however, decreases
tissue rmness due to extensive tissue disruption,
namely losses in the structural integrity of cell walls,
middle lamellae and cellular membranes (Stanley,
Bourne, Stone & Wismer, 1995). Osmotic dehydration is
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +54-1-457-63366; fax: +54-148559087.
E-mail addresses: lia@indust.di.fcen.uba.ar (L.N. Gerschenson),
amarango@uoguelph.ca (A.G. Marangoni).
1
Member of Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientcas y
Tecnicas de la Republica Argentina.

a commonly used technique for the concentration of

solid foods, and has been extensively applied to the
partial dehydration of fruits and vegetables (Raoult,
Lafont, Rios & Guilbert, 1989). Osmotic dehydration
can be carried out at atmospheric pressure or under
vacuum (vacuum infusion). Vacuum infusion shortens
immersion times in the osmoticum, thereby resulting in
products of higher textural quality (Muntada et al.,
1998).
Kiwi fruit (Actinidia chinensis, Planch and Actinidia
deliciosa, A. Chev.) is a native of the mountains of
southern China. Commercial development of the fruit
took place in New Zealand, with a number of cultivars
being selected from seeds of Actinidia deliciosa. Long
storage life was regarded as essential for development of
an export industry in New Zealand, so the cultivar
Hayward, which has a storage life of at least six months
at 0 C, was adopted for cultivation among others of
them of inferior storage characteristics (Scott, Spraggon
& McBride, 1986). The rmness of a kiwi fruit strongly
inuences its sensory qualities at the moment of consumption, including perceived aroma intensity, sweetness, acidity and ripeness (Stec, Hodgson, Macrae &

0963-9969/01/$ - see front matter # 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
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L.N. Gerschenson et al. / Food Research International 34 (2001) 16

Triggs, 1989). Consequently, much work has concentrated on the physiological processes that take place
during ripening of kiwi fruit after harvest with special
emphasis on chemical and physical changes that take
place in the kiwi fruit tissue in relation to structural
alterations in cell walls and middle lamellae (Crisosto,
Gordon Mitchell, Arpaia & Mayer, 1984; Hallett,
Macrae & Wegrzyn, 1992; Harker & Hallett, 1994).
Complicating this already complex scenario is the fact
that kiwi fruit are composed of three distinct tissue
types, namely outer pericarp, inner pericarp and core.
These tissues dier in chemical composition (Macrae,
Bowen & Stec, 1989) and rate of softening (Macrae,
Lallu, Searle & Bowen, 1989). A variety of chemical and
physical quality indicators have been developed to
monitor fruit quality and/or physiological state (Nicolas, Buret, Duprat, Moras, Nicolas & Rothan, 1986).
On the other hand, very little work has been carried out
on the eects of processing on the textural quality of
kiwi fruit. Varoquaux, Lecendre, Varoquaux and Souty
(1990) reported a method for the production of semiprocessed kiwi fruit which included modied atmosphere packaging and refrigerated storage. They also
reported rapid losses in rmness only a few hours after
packaging. Surplus production of fresh market kiwi
fruit in Argentina have motivated the processing industry to look for alternative, inexpensive preservation
methods for the production of semi-processed fruit with
extended shelf life, in order to reduce economic losses.
Osmotic dehydration constitutes an interesting process
to obtain high moisture food products which do not
require refrigerated storage.
The objectives of the present research were to determine the eects of osmotic dehydration and blanching
treatments on kiwi tissue microstructure and rheological
behaviour. Dynamic rheological tests combined with
cryo-scanning electron microscopy were used to correlate the observed macroscopic changes in rheological
behaviour to changes in tissue structure.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Sample preparation and soluble solids determination
Fresh Italian kiwi fruits (Actinidia deliciosa cv. Hayward) were purchased at a local market. The moisture
content of fruits used was approximately 84.0% w/w
(aw=0.99), and had soluble solids contents ranging
from 11 to 14 Brix. Fruit were washed, hand peeled
and sliced in half along the equator. Kiwi juice was
expressed from the fruit and the solids' content determined by polarimetry using a Karl Zeiss Polarimeter,
model 74108 (Germany). The amount of soluble solids
present in the tissue is directly proportional to the
degree of ripening (Hallett et al.,1992).

2.2. Blanching and osmotic dehydration treatments

Fruit were steam blanched for 2 min, and cooled by
immersion in cold water for 10 min. Osmotic dehydration was carried out by immersing the halved fruit in a
18% (w/w) aqueous sucrose solution to achieve a water
activity of 0.98 (Norrish, 1966; Ross, 1975). A ratio of
fruit to osmoticum of 1:25 (w/w) was used in our
experiments to ensure adequate immersion. The pH of
the systems was adjusted to 3.5 with citric acid (75 g/
kg). Sodium benzoate (500 ppm) was also added to this
system in order to inhibit and/or retard microbial
growth. Atmospheric infusion required six days at 23 C
to attain pH and aw equilibrium values.
Vacuum osmotic dehydration was carried out in 62%
(w/w) sucrose, pH 3.5 without sodium benzoate, at 60
mm Hg for 10 min at 23 C. In some experiments, calcium (0.39% w/w CaCl2) was included during the infusion step. The aw of treated kiwi fruits was determined
using a Novasina electric hygrometer (Novasina, Switzerland) at 25 C.
2.3. Microscopy
Rectangular outer pericarp tissue samples (332
mm) were excised using a razor blade and immediately
placed in copper specimen holders of an Emscope
SP2000A cryopreparation unit (Ashpard, Kent, UK).
Thereafter, samples were frozen in a liquid nitrogen
slush (207 C), transferred under vacuum to the cold
stage of the preparation chamber at temperatures below
150 C, where the sample was freeze fractured. After
inversion to remove loose fragments, samples were
etched (80 C, 105 Torr, for 35 min), gold coated
(150 C, 30 nm of Au), and transferred under vacuum
to the cold stage of a Hitachi S-570 scanning electron
microscope (Tokyo, Japan). Samples were observed
using an accelerating voltage of 10 or 15 kV and a stage
temperature below 150 C, as previously described
(Robinson, Ehlers, Herken, Hermann, Mayer & Schumann, 1987).
2.4. Rheological measurements
Dynamic rheological behaviour at 20 C was characterized using a CSL2 500 Rheometer (TA Instruments, New Castle, USA) using a 2-cm diameter,
parallel plate geometry. Cylindrical samples of 2-cm
diameter and 3-mm thickness were cut from the treated
halves using a cork borer. Initially, stress sweeps were
performed to establish the linear viscoelastic range of
the material. Thereafter, frequency sweeps between 1
and 10 Hz, at a constant strain of 0.01%, were used to
characterize the viscoelastic behaviour of the material
subjected to the dierent treatments described above.
Storage (G0 ), loss moduli (G00 ) and loss tangents (tan )

L.N. Gerschenson et al. / Food Research International 34 (2001) 16

were determined. Averages of 10 determinations and

their corresponding standard deviations are reported.
2.5. Statistical analysis
One-way analysis of variance and Tukey's tests were
used to determine the statistical signicance of dierences in the values of G0 , G00 and tan  among treatments.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Rheology
Fig. 1A shows a dynamic stress sweep on a ripe,
untreated kiwi fruit sample, used to establish the linear
viscoelastic range (LVR) of the material. For all subsequent determinations, strains of 0.01% were used.
Fig. 1B shows the frequency dependence of the storage
(G0 ) and loss moduli (G00 ) for ripe, untreated kiwi fruit
storage and loss moduli were independent of frequency.
Moreover, at any given frequency, G0 >>>G00 , which
indicated a dominant contribution of the elastic component to the viscoelastic response of the material
the loss tangent (G00 /G0 ) ranged between 0.12 and 0.20,
with a median of about 0.17 (Table 1). This behaviour is
typical of viscoelastic solids (Shoemaker, 1992; Stee,
1992).
Results from our rheological studies are summarized
in Table 1. For ripe kiwi fruit, blanching and osmotic

dehydration at atmospheric pressure, caused a 3-fold

decrease in the G0 and G00 of outer pericarp tissue relative to the untreated sample (P<0.05). This was indicative of drastic losses in the structural integrity of the
material. The tan , or ratio of G00 /G0 , remained constant for all treatments. Osmotic dehydration under
vacuum, on the other hand, caused an approximately 2fold decrease in the G0 and G00 of the tissue relative to
the untreated sample (P<0.05). Our results suggest that
osmotic dehydration under vacuum is less detrimental
to the textural quality of fruit tissue than osmotic
dehydration at atmospheric pressure.
The presence of calcium in the osmoticum during
vacuum infusion did not result in increased moduli
(P>0.05). Heat helps calcium penetration in the middle
lamellae (Seow, Vasanti Nair & Lee, 1995), as a consequence, the absence of heating might have impaired
the eect of the ion addition.
For unripe kiwi fruit, the situation was somewhat
dierent. Firstly, outer pericarp G0 , G00 and tan  values
were not signicantly dierent from those of ripe kiwi
fruit (P>0.05). It is possible that the null eect
observed of the degree of ripening on the dynamic
response of raw tissue might be ascribed to a limited
value of the instrumentation applied for describing
some textural changes. In contrast to results obtained
with the ripe kiwi fruit tissue, G0 and G00 values
increased 4- to 5-fold relative to untreated unripe tissue
(P<0.05), upon vacuum infusion. For unripe tissue, our
results suggest that osmotic dehydration under vacuum
increases the rmness, and possibly the textural quality,
of kiwi fruit tissue.
Our next aim was to attempt to relate the observed
changes in dynamic rheological behaviour of kiwi fruit
tissue to changes in the microstructure of the material.
3.2. Microscopy

Fig. 1. Dynamic rheological behaviour of ripe untreated kiwi fruit.

(A) Dynamic stress sweep. (B) Frequency dependence of the storage
(G0 ) and loss moduli (G00 ). *, G0 *, G00 ; , strain.

When interpreting cryo-SEM micrographs, the reader

should keep in mind that the bright regions in the
micrographs correspond to areas where a glass had
formed upon freeze concentration of solutes, as well as
to regions where cell walls and cellular membranes are
present. The darker regions correspond to regions where
ice microcrystals had formed. Dierences in intensity
are due to the dierences in height between the areas
where ice had formed, and the areas where the glasses
and insoluble structures of the tissue were present. The
overall result is the formation of a porous structure,
where the `pores' are created upon sublimation of the
ice microcrystals.
As previously stated, three major tissue types can be
identied in kiwi fruit, namely, outer pericarp, inner
pericarp and core. The outer pericarp is bounded on the
outer side by an epidermis, below which radially compressed cells can be identied. The bulk of this tissue is

L.N. Gerschenson et al. / Food Research International 34 (2001) 16

Table 1
Dynamic rheological behaviour of kiwi fruit outer pericarp tissuea
Kiwifruit

G0 (Pa)d

G00 (Pa)d

Tan d

Rawb
Blanchedb
Osmotically dehydratedb
Osmotically dehydrated (vacuum)b
Osmotically dehydrated (vacuum plus calcium addition)b
Rawc
Osmotically dehydrated (vacuum)c

124 30027 543a

46 0506573bc
34 6901102b
85 30012 367dc
83 5801543d
131 20022 345a
65 660065 145e

22 3904389a
73631367b
6021789b
16 9502023c
15 480848cd
19 7305234acd
81 5307127e

0.18020. 025ab
0.15990.041ab
0.17360.060ab
0.19870.052a
0.18530.043ab
0.15040.054ab
0.12420.043b

a
b
c
d

Values represent averages and standard deviations of 10 determinations.

12.514.0 Brix.
11.0 Brix.
Same letter in columns indicates no signicant dierences (P>0.05) among treatments within the same column.

composed of a mixture of spherical/ellipsoidal cells of

two size groupings. Individual or small groups of large
cells (cross-sectional diameter around 0.50.8 mm) are
dispersed in a matrix of smaller cells (cross-sectional
diameter about 0.10.2 mm). Cell walls are of mean
thickness 2.5 mm, ranging from 1 to 5 mm (Hallett et al.,
1992). Our cryo-SEM observations of tissue from outer
pericarp regions of the mature ripe fruit (12.514 Brix)
showed that the general morphology of the tissue agreed
with previous reports (Hallett et al.), showing limited
intercellular space visible (Fig. 2). After steam-blanching
for 2 min, cell-wall swelling was detected and the degree
of cell separation in the middle lamella increased (Fig.
3A). Leakage of cytosolic material was also evident,
probably as a consequence of membrane and cell wall
damage (Fig. 3B). This disruption of cell wall and middle lamella structure was probably responsible for the
large decreases in elastic moduli (Table 1).
Unfortunately, for osmostically dehydrated tissue at
atmospheric pressure, the discernment of any cellular or
subcellular features was not possible since the entire
tissue became vitried (not shown). This eect was most
probably due to the presence of high sucrose concentrations in the tissue, and the extremely fast freezing
rates used during sample preparation. Because of the
long incubation times in the osmoticum for this treatment, tissues were completely saturated with the sucrose
solution, which proved very dicult to remove by
washing prior to cryo-xation.
It was possible, however, to obtain images of tissue
microstructure for vacuum osmotically dehydrated
samples of ripe and unripe kiwi fruit (Fig. 4). In vacuum
infused ripe kiwi fruit tissue (Fig. 4A), the contour of
cells appeared irregular, possibly due to cytoplasm
shrinkage upon osmotic dehydration, leading to losses
in turgor pressure, and therefore, rmness (Table 1).
Very evident as well was the dark appearance of the
apoplast (inter-cellular regions), indicative of ice microcrystal formation, which upon sublimation had disappeared. Upon osmotic dehydration, water would
have migrated from the symplast (intra-cellular region

Fig. 2. SEM micrograph of ripe kiwi fruit outer pericarp tissue.

of cytoplasm) to the apoplast, thereby diluting this

inter-cellular uid, allowing for ice crystallization to
take place. For vacuum infused unripe kiwi fruit tissue,
the situation was somewhat dierent. For this case,
cytoplasmic shrinkage did not seem to have occurred
(Fig. 4B). Cells appeared turgid, with a regular contour,
and the apoplastic regions did not appear to have been
diluted with water that originated from the cytoplasm.
A porous matrix was clearly observable in the apoplastic regions (Fig. 4B arrow). It would seem that both
cell wall integrity and cellular turgor were preserved to a
greater extent in unripe osmotically dehydrated tissue
under vacuum than in ripe tissue.
When calcium was added to the osmoticum during
vacuum infusion, no dierences in dynamic rheological
behaviour (Table 1) or tissue structure were detected
(not shown). In contrast, work by Seow et al. (1995) has
shown that addition of calcium to the osmoticum leads
to increases in tissue rmness. The eventual reinforcing

L.N. Gerschenson et al. / Food Research International 34 (2001) 16

Fig. 3. SEM micrographs of steam blanched ripe kiwi fruit tissue.

Fig. 4. SEM micrographs of vacuum infused kiwi fruit tissue. (A) Ripe; (B) unripe.

of cell wall and middle lamellae through calcium crosslinking was not sucient to increase tissue rmness, or
is not a key factor in the preservation of the textural
quality of kiwi fruit.
4. Conclusions
A dominant contribution of the elastic component of
the viscoelasticity of kiwi fruit was observed. In general
G0 and G00 decreased with ripe kiwi fruit preservation as
an expression of tissue damage. This trend reversed for
unripe tissue osmotically dehydrated under vacuum.
When calcium was added to the osmoticum during

vacuum infusion, no dierences in dynamic rheological

behaviour or tissue structure were detected. Tissues with
a lower dynamic modulus had an appearance characteristic of plant material in which some component of
the textural unity (middle lamellacell wallcell membrane) had been aected by preservation technique.
Acknowledgements
We acknowledge the nancial support of the Fundacion Antorchas, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Consejo
Nacional de Investigaciones Cientcas y Tecnicas
de la Republica Argentina, Agencia Nacional de

L.N. Gerschenson et al. / Food Research International 34 (2001) 16

lnvestigaciones Centicas y Tecnologicas de la Republica Argentina, Interamerican Development Bank, the

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of
Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food
and Rural Aairs.
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