Effect of Drying Temperature on Physicochemical Characteristics of Tomato Powder

Abstract

Tomato powder is produced by dehydrating tomatoes. The powder consists of only one ingredient, it represents the specificity of this product, namely dehydrated natural tomatoes. Among other things, drying as a preservation process is considered one of the best methods, because it ensures ease of use, transportation and storage. As part of the canning and processing of fruits and especially vegetables, tomato products have always occupied a very important place due to the organoleptic and culinary properties of these products, and the nutritional value of tomatoes as a raw material. Compared to other types of vegetables, tomatoes have a high yield, with some varieties even over 90%.The most important factor in tomato dehydration is the dehydration temperature as well as the time interval during which the dehydration process is carried out. In the dehydration process, two varieties of fresh tomatoes from the local market were used, which were dehydrated at temperatures of 50 and 75 °C. In parallel, a comparative physicochemical analysis of fresh tomato samples with dehydrated ground samples of tomato powder was performed. All analyzes in this research work were edited three times, and the mean value was used to display the graphical results.