MODELING AND VALIDATION OF IMPROVED PROCESSING METHODS FOR VEGETABLES USING MICROWAVE HEATING, EXTRUSION, FERMENTATION, AND ACIDIFICATION

To develop improved processing technologies for cucumbers, peppers, cabbage, and sweetpotatoes that will benefit growers and processors in North Carolina. Specific areas of interest will be: (1) application of developing processing technologies to develop functional ingredient forms from vegetables and ensure safe preservation of high quality vegetable products, and (2) modeling of the growth of bacteria and bacteriophage in fermentation processes.