FEASIBILITY OF ACCELERATED TESTS FOR BROWNING IN DEHYDRATED CABBAGE

SUMMARY– Feasibility of using accelerated tests for deterioration of dehydrated vegetables through nonenzymatic browning was evaluated. Studies were made on unsulfited freeze‐dehydrated cabbage. Two procedures for shortening the time required to predict shelf life were used: (1) Extrapolation from high to low moisture contents; and (2) Extrapolation from high to low temperatures. A combination of the two procedures was also evaluated. It was determined that activation energy for browning was dependent on moisture content, and an equation expressing this dependence was developed. Equations relating rates of browning to moisture content at a given temperature were also obtained. Extrapolations based on either procedure, or on a combination of both, gave satisfactory results. The variance of the extrapolation‐based estimates of browning rates was dependent on the number of points used for the extrapolation. The procedures used reduced the time required to obtain browning‐rate data at low moisture contents from over a year to only 10 days.