Effect of the osmotic and adiabatic dehydration process on the nutritional composition of tomatoes

Abstract

The tomato is a horticultural product of commercial importance in Brazil. The Sweet Grape, a hybrid of mini-tomato with a sweeter taste, can be consumed as a side dish, appetizer, or in natura. The main commercialization difficulties are related to the post-harvest losses. For being highly perishable, the dehydration process is a great alternative; however, less has been studied about the processing of the hybrid variety Sweet Grape. Therefore, this study aimed at studying the drying technique in two tomato varieties, Italian and Sweet Grape, by analyses of chemical and mineral composition and antioxidants (phenolics, lutein, beta-carotene, lycopene, and ascorbic acid), the tomatoes in natura, and the dehydrated products. In general, the processing performed in the Sweet Grape tomatoes preserved the parameters better, compared with the Italian tomatoes. The results allow the conclusion that dehydration maintained the nutritional quality when performed in the Sweet Grape tomatoes.