Novel Techniques for the Preservation of Crispness and Tissue Integrity of Salad Vegetables,

Salad vegetables such as celery, lettuce, and cucumbers possess a very short shelf life. So far, all attempts to prolong their shelf life by known methods of preservation currently used by the food industry, e.g., thermal processing, freezing, and dehydration, failed to yield an acceptable product due to mushiness caused by irreversible tissue damage. The objective of these studies was the development of processing techniques whereby the shelf life of such salad vegetables can be significantly increased and become shelf-stable without adversely affecting their overall quality.