Recent developments and trends in thermal blanching – A comprehensive review

•Examined the purposes of thermal blanching.•Summarized the indicators for assessment of blanching process.•Outlined the principles, applications and limitations of thermal blanching technologies.•Identified and discussed the future trends of thermal blanching. Thermal blanching is an essential operation for many fruits and vegetables processing. It not only contributes to the inactivation of polyphenol oxidase (PPO), peroxidase (POD), but also affects other quality attributes of products. Herein we review the current status of thermal blanching. Firstly, the purposes of blanching, which include inactivating enzymes, enhancing drying rate and product quality, removing pesticide residues and toxic constituents, expelling air in plant tissues, decreasing microbial load, are examined. Then, the reason to why indicators such as POD and PPO, ascorbic acid, color, and texture are frequently used to evaluate blanching process is summarized. After that, the principles, applications and limitations of current thermal blanching methods, which include conventional hot water blanching, steam blanching, microwave blanching, ohmic blanching, and infrared blanching are outlined. Finally, future trends are identified and discussed.