Drying kinetics and quality of carrots subjected to microwave-assisted drying preceded by combined pulsed electric field and ultrasound treatment

Abstract

In the study the impact of combined pulsed electric field and ultrasound pretreatment on microwave-assisted air drying kinetics and quality of dried carrot was evaluated. Pretreatment of samples has been realized through sequential application of PEF followed by US or vice versa. Sonication was performed using either the contact or immersive method whereas PEF treatment was carried out at 5 kV·cm−1 and 10 pulses. After pretreatment the samples were subjected to microwave-assisted convective drying. Combined pretreatment reduced drying time by 27–49%. The highest retention of carotenoids (93.7%) was noted for samples subjected to PEF treatment followed by contact sonication. Optical properties of pretreated carrots were similar to reference samples (without pretreatment) and total color change ranged from 2.8 to 5.8. Application of immersive sonication, regardless of the sequence, resulted in the highest rehydration capacity and the highest loss of soluble solids. Despite samples subjected to combined pretreatment exhibited the most porous structure, the hygroscopic properties remained almost unchanged in comparison to the reference sample.