Effect of pre-drying treatments on the quality of solar-dehydrated tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.) fruits

Abstract

Preserving surplus highly perishable products, such as tomatoes, through processing is an effective method, especially during periods of excess supply. Pre-treatment is commonly employed before the drying of agricultural goods to deactivate enzymes, expedite the drying process, and enhance the quality of the resulting dried products. An experiment was done to assess the impact of applying Sodium Metabisulphate, Sodium Chloride, and lemon juice as treatments on the quality of solar-dehydrated tomato (SDT) fruits. The trial consisted of four treatments, organized in a completely randomized design with three replications. The findings demonstrated a substantial increase in protein, crude fat, and total soluble solids levels in the treated samples compared to the control. Moisture content reduced from 96.70 %(wb) to 3.4 % for (db) for the sample pretreated with 5 % lemon juice which was higher than NaCl, SMBS, and Control samples with 3.1 %, 3.2 %, and 3.3 % (db) The experiment has shown that pre-drying treatment of tomato fruits with SMBS, and Lemon juice leads to increased levels of protein with 0.79 g in the treated sample, crude fat recorded at 3.2 % in the lemon juice sample, 10.72% of ash content in lemon juice, and 6.0% of total soluble sugars in lemon juice. Nevertheless, the Lemon juice, NaCl, and control samples exhibited comparable characteristics in terms of color, flavor, taste, and overall acceptability In contrast, the SMBS treatment resulted in superior color with 7.1 %, taste 7.2 %, and 8.3 % for general acceptance as indicated by a significant difference (p = 0.05). Hence, employing solar dehydration as a method to preserve the quality and extend the storage life of treated tomato fruits can serve as a viable technological alternative. Producers, processors, and traders of tomato fruits in Ghana can benefit from using Sodium Metabisulphate, Sodium Chloride, and lemon juice treatments.