• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.62 no.1
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• pp.25-30
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• 2019

This study investigated the quality changes in whole super sweet corn during thermal processing to extend its shelf-life. To minimize the reduction of unique texture of whole sweet corn after the sterilization, the alcohol sanitation applied and the cold point of a whole corn ear was determined using a computer simulation. The cold point was located between the corn kernel and the cob. The microorganisms on the surface of sweet corn were reduced by more than 1 log CFU/g after alcohol sanitation, then the whole corn was treated to satisfy the degree of sterilization ($F_{121.1}=4$). The quality of sterilized sweet corn was compared with the control that was treated with steaming. The quality changes of sterilized sweet corn during storage were monitored for 9 months at $25^{\circ}C$. The hardness was maintained within 30% of its initial value. The minimum of hardness was $464.50{\pm}103.35g$ and maximum of hardness was $514.50{\pm}81.83g$. The differences in the sugar content among the samples were found, but the sugar content of corn kernel remained within 30% of the control, ranging from $28.83{\pm}1.05$ to $34.36{\pm}0.42%$. The yellowness was higher than that of control by 5%. The maximum value of yellowness was $34.36{\pm}0.42$. The general bacteria and molds and yeasts in corn kernel stored at $25^{\circ}C$ were not detected after 9 months of storage at $25^{\circ}C$. Therefore, in this study, we have demonstrated that the thermal sterilized method extends the shelf-life of whole sweet corn with minimizing its quality changes over 6 months in room temperature.