Abstract
In this study, the effect of distance between Far-Infrared Radiation (FIR) emitter and the surface of tomato slices and sample thickness on drying time, non-enzymatic browning, brightness, the ratio of redness to yellowness, ascorbic acid content, and lycopene content of the dried tomato slices was investigated. Three levels of distance (38 to 50 cm), sample thickness (7 to 11 mm) were used for the experiment. The desirability index technique was used to determine the ideal drying conditions that yield minimum drying time and non-enzymatic browning and maximum brightness color, redness to yellowness ratio, lycopene content, and ascorbic acid of drying of tomato slices. At the best conditions of 40.29 cm distance and 9.04 mm sample thickness, the drying time was 108 ± 4 minutes; the non-enzymatic browning index was 0.338 ± 0.12 Abs unit; the brightness was 40.43 ± 2.29; the ratio of redness to yellowness was 0.92 ± 0.13; the ascorbic acid content was 3.76 ± 0.27 mg/g dry matter; and the lycopene content was 72.34 ± 19.87 mg/100 g dry matter. These results demonstrate that FIR should be considered as an efficient drying method for tomato with respect to colour and ascorbic acid preservation, minimization of brown pigment formation and increment in lycopene content.
Highlights
Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) plays an important role in the diet of mankind
Previous studies have reported several advantages of far-infrared radiation (FIR) drying over the conventional hot air: high-heat transfer coefficient, high-energy efficiency, lesser air flows through the food material, short processing time, and low cost of energy requirement [2,5,6,7]
Little information is available on FIR catalytic drying of tomato slices
Summary
Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) plays an important role in the diet of mankind. It provides diet with color, flavor, vitamin, and lycopene. Among the various drying methods, the most common is the convectional air drying This approach is usually long, energy intensive, and cause many undesirable changes to the dried product. One of the ways to shorten the drying time and to make high-quality product is to use far-infrared radiation (FIR) heating. This method is suitable for thinlayer drying of materials with large surface of exposure to radiation [2]. Previous studies have reported several advantages of FIR drying over the conventional hot air: high-heat transfer coefficient, high-energy efficiency, lesser air flows through the food material, short processing time, and low cost of energy requirement [2,5,6,7]. Little information is available on FIR catalytic drying of tomato slices
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