Analysis of deformation of cooked root vegetables in a stacked state.

Root vegetables are generally compressed at the bottom of a pot during large-scale cooking, which sometimes causes the collapse of tissue resulting in waste. Thus, control of the cooking process is crucial for preventing food loss and waste. This study aimed to establish a prediction method for the deformation of cooked root vegetables in a stacked state at the bottom of the pot following cooking. Two novel model experiments, a stacking model experiment and a compression test, were applied. Cooked potatoes were not found to deform significantly in the stacked state, while cooked Japanese radish deformed and lost weight markedly in both experiments. Furthermore, strain in the compression test of cooked Japanese radish could be predicted via the creep model, and also the weight loss with a linear correlation with the strain. These model experiments could be applied to investigate the deformation of foods in a stacked state after cooking. • The compression load had a minor effect on the shape loss of potatoes. • Cooked and stacked Japanese radish in the basket tend to deform and lose weight. • The strain of cooked Japanese radish resembled creep. • Weight loss of Japanese radish was predicted based on the linear with strain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]