Quantitative Determination of Pea Losses as Affected by Conventional Water Blanching

A pilot scale study was conducted to measure soluble solid losses of early June, mini and medium sweet peas commercially blanched at 95 ± 1°C for 3 min using a 25 lb (11.34 kg) sample size. Early June peas had smaller losses than mini and medium sweet peas. Dry matter losses were the greatest for the smallest sizes in each variety. Moisture content did not change significantly during blanching but increased after canning. Alcohol Insoluble Solids increased for all sizes in each cultivar after blanching. Recovery of small size peas may be maximized by bypassing blanching and gravity separation.