Chlorophyll retention has been used as a measure of
quality in green vegetables (Sweeney & Martin, 1961). It
is well-known that the excessive heating of food products
causes considerable losses in the organoleptic quality of
food (Hayakawa & Timbers, 1977). Blanching inactivates
chlorophyllase and enzymes responsible for senescence
and rapid loss of green colour. However, chlorophyll degradation
is initiated by damaged tissue during blanching
and other processing steps (Heaton & Marangoni, 1996;
Tijkens, Barringer, & Biekman, 2001).