Cellulose is major component of vegetable cell wall suspensions and it is also the main component that affects the rheology of processed tomato products.
They are known to contribute to the structure of tomato products significantly depending on the processing conditions. Homogenization is a key processing step in the production of ketchup, sauces, and other tomato products. The homogenization process decreases the mean particle size of the tomato suspensions and imparts smoother texture and higher viscosity. It also alters the nature of the suspensions network and increases the viscosity of the suspensions, During homogenization, tomato pulp is subjected to very high turbulence, shear, cavitation, and impact when it is forced through the homogenizer. The homogenization process was found to alter particle size distribution, pulp sedimentation behavior, erumcloudiness, color, andmicrostructure of tomato juice, by disrupting the suspended pulp particles High pressure homogenization was reported to decrease the particle size due to the disruption of matrix and increase tomato product’s Bostwick consistency, probably due to the formation of fiber network. The large discrete cells and cell fragments of tomato suspensions were easily degraded by homogenization which resulted into higher water-holding capacity. The high pressure homogenization reduced the mean particle size and narrowed the particle size distribution thereby increasing the total surface area and the interaction among the particles reported that the nonhomogenized tomato suspensions had swollen cell structure with relatively few cell aggregates; however, the homogenized suspensions contained large number of degraded cell fragments.
