Mass Transfer Behavior During Osmotic Dehydration and Vacuum Impregnation of “Phulae” Pineapple and the Effects on Dried Fruit Quality

Optimization and modeling of vacuum impregnation of pineapple rings and comparison with osmotic dehydration

The vacuum impregnation (VI) process parameters (vacuum pressure = 20-60 kPa; VI temperature = 35-55°C; concentration of the sucrose solution = 40-60 °Brix; and vacuum process time = 8-24 min) for pineapple rings were optimized based on the moisture content (MC), water loss (WL), solids gain (SG), yellowness index (YI), and total soluble solids (TSS) content of pineapple rings using response surface methodology (RSM). A relationship was developed between the process and response variables using RSM and artificial neural network (ANN) techniques. The effectiveness of VI was evaluated by comparing it with the osmotic dehydration (OD) technique. The optimum condition was found to be 31.782 kPa vacuum pressure, 50.441°C solution temperature, and 60 °Brix sucrose concentration for 20.068 min to attain maximum TSS, YI, SG, and WL, and minimum MC of pineapple rings. The R2 values of RSM models for all variables varied between 0.70 and 0.91, whereas mean square error values varied between 0.76 and 71.58 and for ANN models varied between 0.87-0.93 and 0.53-193.78, respectively. Scanning electron micrographs (SEM) revealed that parenchymal cell rupture was less in VI than in OD. The VI pineapple rings exhibited more pores and high SG, as compared to OD, due to the pressure impregnation. Spectroscopic analysis affirmed that the stretching vibrations of intermolecular and intramolecular interactions were significant in VI as against OD. The VI reduced the drying time by 35% compared to OD, with the highest overall acceptability score and lower microbial load during storage. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Pineapple is a perishable fruit, which necessitates processing for extended shelf life. This study highlights the potential of the vacuum impregnation process as a promising alternative to conventional preservation methods such as osmotic dehydration for pineapples.

Advanced osmotic dehydration techniques combined with emerging drying methods for sustainable food production: Impact on bioactive components, texture, color, and sensory properties of food

The food industries are looking for potential preservation methods for fruits and vegetables. The combination of osmosis and drying has proved the efficient method to improve the food quality. Osmotic dehydration is a mass transfer process in which water molecules from the food move to an osmo-active solution and the solutes from the solution migrate into the food. Advanced osmotic dehydration techniques such as electric field pulse treatment, ultrasonic and microwave-assisted dehydration, pulsed vacuum, and osmodehydrofreezing can improve the nutritional quality (bioactive) and sensory properties (color, texture, aroma, flavor) of fresh and cut-fruits without changing their reliability. Emerging osmotic dehydration technologies can preserve the structure of fruit tissue by forming microscopic channels and increasing effective water diffusivity. However, it is important to analyze the effect of advanced osmotic dehydration techniques on the quality of food products to understand the industrial scalability of these techniques. The present paper discusses the impact of recent osmotic dehydration techniques on bioactive, antioxidant capacity, color, and sensory profile of food.

Extraction and Characterization of Cellulose from Agricultural By-Products of Chiang Rai Province, Thailand

Cellulose is an abundant component of the plant biomass in agricultural waste valorization that may be exploited to mitigate the excessive use of synthetic non-biodegradable materials. This work aimed to investigate the cellulose utilized by alkaline extraction with a prior bleaching process from rice straw, corncob, Phulae pineapple leaves, and Phulae pineapple peels. The bleaching and alkaline extraction process was performed using 1.4% acidified sodium chlorite (NaClO2) and 5% potassium hydroxide (KOH) in all the samples. All the samples, without and with the alkaline process, were characterized for their physico-chemical, microstructure, thermal properties and compared to commercial cellulose (COM-C). The extraction yield was the highest in alkaline-extracted cellulose from the corncob (AE-CCC) sample (p < 0.05), compared to the other alkaline-treated samples. The undesired components, including mineral, lignin, and hemicellulose, were lowest in the AE-CCC sample (p < 0.05), compared to raw and alkaline-treated samples. The microstructure displayed the flaky AE-CCC structure that showed a similar visibility in terms of morphology with that of the alkaline-treated pineapple peel cellulose (AE-PPC) and COM-C samples compared to other alkaline-treated samples with a fibrous structure. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) of AE-CCC samples showed the lowest amorphous regions, possibly due to the elimination of hemicellulose and lignin during bleaching and alkaline treatment. The highest crystallinity index obtained in the AE-CCC sample showed a close resemblance with the COM-C sample. Additionally, the AE-CCC sample showed the highest thermal stability, as evidenced by its higher Tonset (334.64 °C), and Tmax (364.67 °C) compared to the COM-C and alkaline-treated samples. Therefore, agricultural wastes after harvesting in the Chiang Rai province of Thailand may be subjected to an alkaline process with a prior bleaching process to yield a higher cellulose content that is free of impurities. Thus, the extracted cellulose could be used as an efficient, eco-friendly, and biodegradable material for packaging applications.

Microstructural, biochemical and drying characteristics of dehydrated 'Sunectwentyone' nectarines as affected by sodium metabisulphite

Abstract

Nectarine fruit is highly perishable due to its high moisture content (89%) and susceptibility to decay. Continuous degradation in quality attributes due to physiological responses and ripening result ultimately in post-harvest losses. Drying of fruit offers the possibility to minimize losses and add value to fresh produce. Thus, this study evaluated the impacts of sodium metabisulphite (SMB; 10 g/kg) and characterized the influence of hot air (50 °C) drying on the kinetics, fruit tissue microstructure, and the physicochemical properties of dried 'Sunectwentyone' nectarines (Super star®). Out of the nine mathematical models, Logarithmic and Henderson, and Pabis models were the most suitable to predict the drying behaviour of sliced nectarines (R ²  = 0.94). Based on the microstructural analysis, prolonged drying led to higher tissue displacement/disruption in dehydrated nectarine slices. Results showed that SMB treatment was more effective in maintaining both the freshness and the color of 'Sunectwentyone' nectarine than the untreated.

Graphical abstract

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10068-022-01039-6.