Tomato peeling performance under pilot scale catalytic infrared heating

Steam and lye peeling methods have been the most commercialized methods in tomatoes industry. However, they are water and energy intensive and have adverse effects on the environment. The infrared (IR) dry-peeling was studied as a sustainable tomato peeling method because it does not require water nor chemicals. An IR peeling system equipped with catalytic IR emitters was designed and constructed. The peeling performance of the system, in terms of peelability, peeling loss, and product quality, was examined under different loading rates using the tomatoes cultivars, Hz 5608, Seminis DRI 319, and Seminis HP 849. Peeling performance was significantly (alpha = 0.05) affected by surface temperature of tomatoes during IR heating. A tomato surface temperature range of 109-115 degrees C (+/- 2 degrees C) during IR heating was found to be optimum for achieving a good peeling performance. Compared to conventional lye peeling, IR dry-peeling produced up to 38.2% firmer peeled tomatoes and up to 12.2% lower peeling loss with a similar or better peeling easiness and more desirable color of the peeled tomatoes.