Abstract
Abstract The structural characteristics of lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.) seeds preserved by microwave vacuum drying (MVD) were investigated under various drying parameters, including microwave power density and vacuum degree. Dried lotus seeds were examined for microstructure by field emission scanning electron microscopy. Fractal dimension of the microscopic images was calculated by the box counting method. The apparent physical changes of the seeds, namely shrinkage ratio, rehydration rate, and hardness index, were determined to correlate well with their microstructural changes computed by the normalized changes of the fractal dimension (ΔFD/FD0). The samples at −90 kPa, 15 W/g exhibited a lower shrinkage ratio (46.2 %), higher rehydration rate (187.5 %) and lower hardness (3692.4 N). Although the physical and microstructural changes of the samples prepared by different drying methods (MVD, microwave drying, and hot air drying) varied, the changes of the ΔFD/FD0 of the dried samples exhibited the same trends.
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