Applied Thermal Engineering 26 (2006) 2168–2175

www.elsevier.com/locate/apthermeng

Vacuum cooling combined with hydrocooling

and vacuum drying on bamboo shoots
H.-P. Cheng *

Department of Air-conditioning and Refrigeration and Engineering, National Taipei University of Technology,
1, Section 3, Chung-Hsiao E. Road, Taipei 106, Taiwan

Received 20 January 2006; accepted 4 April 2006

Available online 30 May 2006

Abstract

Vacuum cooling technology is a proven technology widely applied on post-processing of harvested agricultural products. However,
there are few researches on its application on root/stem vegetables. Bamboo shoot is a type of root/stem vegetables with high economic
value in Taiwan. It is also enjoyed by Taiwanese and Asian people. This study experimented with vacuum cooling in combination with
hydrocooling and vacuum drying on harvested bamboo shoots. It intended to discuss the relationships among the temperature of cooling
water, the pressure of vacuum chamber, and the temperature of bamboo shoots during these processes. The experimental results showed
that multi-stage vacuum pressure reserving technique combined with hydrocooling could reduce the temperature of bamboo shoots effi-
ciently. It has the advantage of minimizing the energy consumed by the vacuum system. In this study, bamboo shoots were treated with
vacuum cooling and hydrocooling process, and then vacuum dried to reduce the water content of the surface and bamboo crust. It was
proven to prolong the storage time and improve the freshness preserving quality efficiently. The finding provides a possibility of shipping
bamboo shoots to nearby countries via sea transportation. As a result, the competitiveness of Taiwan-produced bamboo shoots could be
enhanced to an international scale.
Ó 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Vacuum precooling; Hydrocooling; Vacuum drying; Bamboo shoots

1. Introduction result, the commercial value is adversely affected. In order

Among all bamboo products produced in Northern
Taiwan, bamboo shoots contribute the largest output.
The production area is about 5000 ha, and the annual yield
is approximately 30,000 tons [1]. Most of the bamboo
shoots are supplied for fresh dishes. A small portion is pro-
cessed as cooked food, as favored by Taiwanese and Asian
people. In addition to meeting the local demands in Taiwan,
there is also an increasing demand of export to Japan. The
strong physiological change of harvested bamboo shoots
would often lead to browning and lignification of the bam-
boo profile, as well as subsequent rapid deterioration. As a
*
Tel.: +886 2 27712171x3519; fax: +886 2 27711686.
E-mail address: hpcheng@ntut.edu.tw
to shorten the delivery time to Japan, air freight is the only
means at present to ensure the freshness. However, the high
cost of air freight has resulted in stagnant export to Japan.
Therefore, it is important to develop preservative technol-
ogy for bamboo shoots so that they are suitable for low-cost
sea transportation. The most critical procedure is precool-
ing before storing bamboo shoots in the refrigerator.
Hydrocooling and forced-air cooling are the two com-
mon methods used for precooling of harvested agricultural
products in Taiwan. Vacuum cooling technology is now
strongly valued and promulgated by agricultural authori-
ties in Taiwan. However, the focus has been on leafy
vegetables. Thus, there lack relevant applications and
researches on root/stem vegetables, such as bamboo
shoots. Moreover, researches abroad on root/stem vegeta-
bles are also seldom. The literature review is as follows. As

1359-4311/$ - see front matter Ó 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2006.04.004
 H.-P. Cheng / Applied Thermal Engineering 26 (2006) 2168–2175 2169

early as in 1948, the first vacuum cooling factory for com-

mercial purpose was established in California (USA), and
it achieved a great success in the precooling of lettuce [2].
Up to the present, the vacuum cooling technology has
gained over 50 years of successful application experience
in America, mainly applied on leafy vegetables. McDonald
and Sun [3] sorted out complete materials in respect to the
application types of the vacuum cooling to vegetables,
fruits, meat, fish, sauce, baked and cooked food.
Researches concerning horticultural commodities similar
to bamboo shoots (root/stem vegetables) include straw-
berries [4,5], melons [6], turnips [7], cucumber [8], and car-
rot [8]. ASHARE [9] described different vacuum pumping
systems and theories of each cooling method. It further
proposed proper precooling methods for each agricultural
product and the ultimate precooling temperature. The
results suggested using vacuum cooling on certain types
of horticultural commodities, including cabbage, iceberg
lettuce, kale, collards, leaf lettuces, spinach, endive, esca-
role, Chinese cabbage, bok choy, romaine, cauliflower, cel-
Fig. 1. Bamboo shoots placed in cooling vessel.
ery, rhubarb, mushrooms, peppers, and sweet corn.
In this study, vacuum cooling combined with hydro-
cooling and vacuum drying processes were applied to har-
vested bamboo shoots. The objectives of this study are to
extend the preservative period of bamboo shoots so that
they are suitable for export to Japan via low-cost sea trans-
portation, while maintaining the product quality.

2. Experiment method

Vacuum cooling achieves cooling by evaporating the

water content in the object surface, thus, carrying away
the heat of the object. Leafy vegetables can be cooled more
easily during the vacuuming process because they have a
large surface to volume ratio. However, root/stem vege-
tables, such as bamboo shoots, have a small surface to vol-
ume ratio. Thus, they are less likely to yield a satisfactory
temperature drop.
In this study, brief water immersion was carried as a
part of the experimental procedure because it does not
affect the quality of bamboo shoots. The bamboo shoots
were stood upright and elevated in a cooling vessel. Water
was added until it reached the mid-height of the bamboo
shoots, as illustrated in Fig. 1. The vessel was then placed
into a vacuum chamber. When the pressure of the vacuum
chamber declined, the water displayed phenomena of low-
temperature boiling and sudden temperature drop [10]. The
heat exchange between the bamboo shoots and low-
temperature water then cooled the bamboo shoots.
The multi-stage vacuum pressure reserving method
[11,12] was applied in the vacuum cooling and hydro-
cooling process. When vacuum chamber reached the
designed reserved pressure, the gate valve between the vac-
uum chamber and pumping pipe would be closed. Its pur-
pose was to isolate the vacuum chamber and reserve the
chamber pressure. In such case, heat exchange between
the bamboo shoots and cooling water from the vacuum Fig. 2. Vacuum cooling combined with hydrocooling process.