OPTIMIZATION EFFECTIVENESS OF FREEZING OF CHERRY FRUITS THE HARRINGTON METHOD

Abstract

The article shows the rationale for the effectiveness of freezing cherries using the Harrington method. As cherry fruits spoil quickly during storage, their losses are considerable and reach 25%. Therefore, extending their shelf life with the use of new fruit pre-processing technologies is a pressing issue. The purpose of the article was to determine the freezing efficiency of cherry fruits pretreated with sodium alginate solution by the Harrington method.For this purpose, in 2016–2018, research was conducted on the freezing of the cherry fruit of the Alfa and Artemenko Memory. Before freezing, the cherry fruits were sorted, inspected, milled and treated with a 2, 3, 5% sodium alginate solution. It was then packed in 0,5 kg plastic bags and frozen for six months at −24°C, followed by storage at −18°C. To summarize the results of the studies, we used the generalized Harrington function, which is the geometric mean of the desirability functions of the criteria.According to the results of the calculations, the best option was the treatment of cherry fruits with a 5% solution of sodium alginate. The indicators of generalized desirability function 0,98 and 0,97 indicate this. The pretreatment of cherries in Artemenko Memory and Alpha 2 and 3% sodium alginate solution showed average desirability function values of 0,74–0,48 and 0,89–0,42. The lowest desirability function in the control version is 0,37.It has been established that, according to the generalized Harrington function of desirability (0,98 and 0,97), the best option for processing cherry fruits before freezing is to treat a 5% solution of sodium alginate.