Study of Ready-to-eat Omelette enriched with dried and freeze-dried vegetables

Two different techniques, classic drying and a patented, non-thermal and non-invasive physical technology were used to treat vegetables in order to obtain food ingredients, without producing waste. These ingredients were used to enrich Italian omelettes that were cooked comparing pan and oven methods. The evaluation of the chemical and microbiological features and sensory characteristics of Italian omelettes was obtained immediately after the cooking process and after 1 and 2 months of storage at −20 °C. Specifically, the evaluation of moisture content, pH, total polyphenolic content, antioxidant activity and microbiological assessment were carried out to ponder how cooking procedures, the use of different vegetables and storage period could influence the structure and properties of the omelettes. The sensorial analysis was also carried out immediately after cooking the omelettes and after a re-heat process in the microwave for the samples stored at −20 °C, to understand the feasibility of the storage and how the use of the vegetable ingredients influenced the taste and quality of the samples. Results showed that the use of vegetables increased the content of total polyphenols and the antioxidant activity also during the frozen storage, especially for the omelettes cooked in the pan with the addition of vegetable powders from the patented technology. Moreover, a lower decrease of the moisture content highlighted better sensorial features. Finally, the microbiological assessment showed that the use of these ingredients decreased the microbial contamination during the storage.