2. Materials and methods
2.1. Plant material
French beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) grown in outskirts of Mumbai
(India)were purchased froma local grower. The vegetablewas broughttothe laboratorywithin 12hafterharvesting andimmediately storedat
refrigerated temperatures (10 C) before processing. Beans, washed in
running tap water to remove all adhered dust and unwanted plant
debris were dried between folds of blotting sheets and subjected to
citric acid treatment by dipping in aqueous solutions of citric acid
(concentrations chosen according to experimental design) for 5 min.
Beanswere trimmed fromends,weighed accurately (110 g), and stored
in polystyrene trays (inner dimensions: 22 cm 15.7 cm 3 cm)
wrapped completelywith clingfilm(Flexofilmwraps Ltd.,Aurangabad,
Maharashtra, India). Film used in the present study had thickness of
8e10 mmand permeability to oxygen and carbon dioxide of 15,000 and
90,000 cm3 m2 day1 atm1 (data as provided by supplier).