Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore
The original green colour of the dried green Bengal gram is lost during the blanching and canning processes. The addition of Pea Green Colour to the brine does not result in much improvement of colour of the canned gram. Preliminary soaking of the gram in sulphite solution helps in the uniform absorption of gre en colour added to the brine. Soaking of the gram in coloured water and then canning in plain brine is not, however, effective as regards the retention of colour in the canned product. The soaking of the gram in water acidified with citric acid makes the canned product mucilaginous, but soaking in plain water and then canning in acidified brine gives a non-mucilaginous product. Addition of acid to the steeping water has thus an adverse effect as regards the quality of the canned product. Enzymic break-down of phytin and pectins during steeping under different conditions of pH and the reported inter-relation between these two as regards the texture of the canned product may account for this in a general way.
