Effect of Postharvest Holding Conditions on the Quality of Salt-Stock Pickles

Quality changes of green- and salt-stock cucumbers held at 5, 20, and 30°C up to 6 days prior to brining were evaluated. Cucumbers held at 5°C showed firm texture, low respiration rates, minimum weight loss, and good quality stock after fermentation. Increasing postharvest holding temperatures and times prior to brining resulted in loss of firmness, high respiration rates, increased weight loss, and a decrease in salt-stock quality. Salt-stock pickle defects increased dramatically under high temperature long time holding periods due to textural degradation and internal softening. Brining directly after harvest yielded the highest quality salt-stock. Cucumbers held 2 days at 20°C or 6 days at 5°C resulted in good salt-stock quality.     

In Situ Martensitic Transformation in a Ternary MgO-Y2O3-ZrO2 Alloy: II, Transformation in Tetragonal ZrO2 Precipitates

The stress-induced martensitic transformation of t -ZrO₂ precipitates in a ternary MgO-Y₂O₃-ZrO₂ alloy has been studied in situ in the transmission electron microscope. The transformation occurs autocatalytically and takes place by piecewise growth of two twin-related m -ZrO₂ variants. Unloading causes retransformation of partially transformed precipitates, but this reverse ( m → t ) transformation of fully transformed precipitates only occurs on heating. The martensitic transformation in this system is clearly thermoelastic .