Conductive drying methods for producing high-quality restructured pineapple-starch snacks

Abstract

Restructured fruit pulps can be dried to obtain new added-value products. In the present study, restructured pineapple pulp was dehydrated by two innovative methods, cast-tape drying (CTD) and conductive multiflash drying (KMFD). The snack produced was evaluated by physical, chemical, and sensory aspects. CTD required a half time length (30 min) than KMFD (60 min) for drying. The drying processes did not affect the ascorbic acid content present in the fresh fruit but decreased its antioxidant activity in 50–70%. The natural volatile compounds were also changed. The product from KMFD was preferred by consumers, which may be a consequence of a more expanded structure with larger pores created by the vacuum pulse and flash water evaporation. KMFD resulted in more jagged acoustic-mechanical curves, which is a characteristic of crispy foods. Therefore, KMFD can be considered the most promising process to produce restructured pineapple snacks in approximately one hour with excellent quality. Industrial relevanceIn recent years, a growing number of consumers have been looking for healthy, convenient, and ready-to-eat foods. Dried restructured fruits can be healthy snacks with very attractive sensory characteristics depending on the drying method. Cast-tape drying (CTD) and conductive multiflash drying (KMFD) are novel technologies with great potential to produce high-quality dried products at an industrial scale in a relatively short time. This study provides important results regarding the most suitable drying processes setup for producing high-quality dried restructured pineapple.