This technology is a method for softening root vegetables by immersing them in an enzyme suspension, using vacuum treatment at 50kPa or less to penetrate the enzymes into the interior, and then heating them in a carbonate or bicarbonate solution at 65–110℃. By sequentially combining enzyme treatment and alkaline salt treatment, hard root vegetables are softened in a short time.
As the elderly population grows, demand for senior-friendly foods for those with weak chewing ability has increased, but root vegetables like radishes, carrots, burdock, and lotus roots remain hard even when chopped and cooked. Physical softening methods like vacuum impregnation, high-pressure treatment, and superheated steam can damage appearance, such as color; relying solely on enzymes can liquefy tissue and cause nutrient loss; and existing methods using enzymes and sodium bicarbonate together often fail to penetrate the core, resulting in uneven hardness between the surface and the center.
This technology involves dissolving enzymes such as cellulase, pectin lyase, and polygalacturonase at 0.1–2% (w/v) in a weakly acidic buffer solution (e.g., acetic acid, phosphate, or citric acid), repeating vacuum treatment for 0.5–2 minutes at 1–5 minute intervals, and reacting at 30–60℃ for 30–90 minutes. Subsequently, the enzymes are inactivated at 90–105℃, and the vegetables are heated in a 0.5–5% sodium carbonate, potassium bicarbonate, or sodium bicarbonate solution for 1–30 minutes. This reduces hardness to below 80,000N/㎡ by over 90%, while maintaining a color difference of 9 or less and a nutrient retention rate of over 70%. Applicable to nursing homes, senior welfare facilities, gum-chewable senior-friendly side dishes, baby food, and patient meals, it can quickly achieve textures meeting KS senior-friendly food hardness standards while preserving the shape, color, and nutrition of root vegetables.
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