No fissures or microcracks were observed on
the surface of rawand frozen/thawed berries (Fig. 1a and b). Despite
the above, freezing/thawing decreased the mechanical strength of
the skin (Table 1). In comparison with raw fruits, freezing and subsequent
thawing of fruits produced berries characterised by significantly
lower maximum force (66 ± 5%) and work (73 ± 4%) required
to puncture the skin.