frozen samples as rapid frozen carrot induced lesser damage of
microstructure compared to the slow freezing. Inclusion of blanching
significantly reduced (p < 0.05) the force required to cut the
carrot disks compared to their fresh counterpart. A similar effect
of blanching was observed by Tansey et al. (2010) during sousvide
processing of carrots. The decrease in the cutting force for the
blanched samples of carrot disks may be explained by the fact that
application of heat induces solubilisation of the intercellular
cementing pectin, which leads to cell loosening (Roeck et al., 2008).