Biochemical quality comparison of forced air dried osmo-dehydrated cashew apple products infused with spice mixture and sugar

Abstract

Cashew apple is a pseudo-fruit available abundantly during harvest seasons (March to July) and majority of them goes as waste because of their perishability and poor shelf life. However, the absence of distinct exocarp and seeds are some of the potential advantages for processing utility. Hence, in the present study, osmo-dehydrated products were prepared from two maturity stages i.e. breaker and ripe stages using sugar, spice mixture and were referred to as cashew fig and chew, respectively. The drying efficiency and product recovery were conquered by cashew chew and fig, respectively. Based on the biochemical and organoleptic qualities, ripe fruits werefound suitable for preparation of chew and fig. The tannin content responsible for acridity got reduced (chew of ripe stage 1.18 to 0.53 mg/g and chew of breaker stage 1.85 to 0.68 mg/g) during the process of osmo- dehydration. Excluding total antioxidant activity, all other biochemical properties were found to be improved compared to their respective controls.