Abstract
Osmotic dehydration is becoming more popular as a complementary treatment in the processing of dehydrated foods, since it presents some advantages such as minimising heat damage to the colour and flavour, inhibiting enzymatic browning and thus dispensing the addition of sulphite and, mainly, reducing energy costs. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effect of using inverted sugar and sucrose syrups as osmotic agents in the dehydration of mango. The conditions used in the dehydration process were: syrup/fruit ratio of 3:1 (v/w); temperature of 45ºC and constant stirring. The in natura and osmo-dehydrated fruits were evaluated in relation to pH, moisture content, water activity (a w) and soluble solids (ºBrix). Solids incorporation and loss in mass after the dehydration process were also determined. The sensory acceptance of the in natura and osmo-dehydrated fruits was determined for the attributes of aroma, flavour, texture and overall acceptance using a hedonic scale. Osmotic dehydration resulted in a reduction in moisture content and water activity, an increase in Brix and maintenance of the pH. The treatment with inverted sugar syrup resulted in more significant alterations in moisture content, a w, Brix, solids incorporation and loss in mass than the treatment with sucrose syrup. Mangos osmo-dehydrated with inverted sugar (55.3% inversion rate) syrup obtained acceptance similar to in natura mangos, this treatment being considered the most adequate for dehydration purposes.
Highlights
The mango (Mangifera indica L.) is one of the most cultivated tropical fruits in the World, with India, China and Mexico being the main producers
Three commercial syrups were used as hypertonic solutions: sucrose syrup of 66oBrix, denominated as treatment 1 (T1); inverted sugar syrup of 66oBrix with a 55.3% inversion rate, treatment 2 (T2) and inverted sugar syrup of 66oBrix with a 92.3% rate of inversion, treatment 3 (T3)
Physicochemical evaluation Fruits treated with inverted sugar reached lower aw values (p < 0.05) than those treated with sucrose syrup, mainly due to the lower water content and higher solids incorporation attained after the inverted syrup treatments, comparing with the sucrose syrup treatment (Table 1)
Summary
The mango (Mangifera indica L.) is one of the most cultivated tropical fruits in the World, with India, China and Mexico being the main producers. Osmotic dehydration is a complementary treatment in the processing of dehydrated foods, since it presents some advantages such as minimising heat damage to the colour and flavour, inhibiting enzymatic browning and reducing energy costs (Alakali et al, 2006; Torres et al, 2006, 2007). In addition it has proved to be a good method to obtain minimally processed fruits, due to the great sensory similarity between the dehydrated and in natura products (Lerici et al, 1985; Sousa et al, 2003). The technique aims to dehydrate food products by immersing them in a hypertonic solution. During the process two simultaneous flows through the cell walls are created in counter current: one of water leaving the fruit to the solution the most important from the dehydration point of view - and other of osmotic solute (usually a salt or sugar) from the solution into the fruit (Ordóñez, 2005)
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