The textural characteristics of frozen foods, which are mainly influenced by freezing rate, play an essential role in determining the acceptability of these products by consumers . Good quality litchi products should present a high degree of hardness, resilienceand chewiness of the pulp. The least changes in texture during frozen storage were observed in IF samples. After 15 days of storage, IF samples retained 84% of firmness, 89% of resilience and 86% of chewiness, compared to only 72%, 58% and 62%, respectively, in AF samples . At the end of
storage (180 days), retention of 80% of the initial hardness, resilience and chewiness were detected in IF samples, while dramatic loss of texture (about 50%) occurred in AF samples. Most of the loss happened during the freezing process and the first two weeks of frozen storage. These results further indicated that IF technology had a more notable protective effect on the natural texture of litchi fruits after freezing and long term frozen storage compared with AF method. This is likely due to reduction of the damaging effects of crystallization and recrystallization on the microstructure of litchi tissues during freezing, frozen storage and thawing by IF processing. The results illustrated again the key role of the freezing rate