After being osmotically dehydrated at temperature 35 °C for 60 min, cucumber slices were placed on perforated aluminum disks to allow their fast, uniform freezing through air circulation at − 40 °C in a freezer for biological samples (Sanyo MIR 553, Sanyo Electric Co, Ora-Gun, Gunma, Japan). The same process was conducted for untreated and blanched cucumber samples. After 24 h storage at − 40 °C, all cucumbers were packed in pouches from BOPP-PE laminate film used for commercial frozen vegetable products, and kept at this temperature for a short period of time before being distributed to controlled temperature cabinets.