Abstract:In this manuscript, the electrical properties of pickling cucumbers were studied based on a parallel-plate measurement system over the frequency range from 20 Hz to12 MHz at room temperature. The traditional indicators of cucumber including firmness,total soluble solids,free amino acids,nitrite,ash,moisture and salt content were also measured regularly to analyze the correlation between quality indices and electrical parameters during pickling. Over the entire frequency range,the Cp value of pickling cucumber decreased as frequency increased and demonstrated a continuous increase with salting time. Linear relationships were evident between the log of frequency and the log of CP with the correlation coefficients of 0.982. The significant correlation between impedance(Z) and total solids,firmness,ash and salt content was showed at 0.1kHz with the correlation coefficients of 0.867,0.791,-0.874,-0.974 respectively. At 0.1 MHz,the highest correlations were reported between moisture content and phase angle(θ) with the correlation coefficients of-0.848. For both parameters,data of the parallel equivalent capacitance(Cp) and admittance(Y) would be potential for predicting free amino acids and salt content.
