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Solar Cabinet Drying of Bitter Gourd: Optimization of Pretreatments and Quality Evaluation

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Published/Copyright: August 9, 2010
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International Journal of Food Engineering
From the journal International Journal of Food Engineering Volume 6 Issue 4

Response surface methodology was used to optimize the pretreatments before solar cabinet drying of bitter gourd slices (6-7 mm thick). Central composite design (CCD) was used to conduct the experiments which consisted thirteen experiments with two variables, viz., blanching time (1-5 min) and potassium metabisulfite (KMS) (0.2-0.5 %). After the pretreatments, the bitter gourd slices were dried up to 6 % (Approx.) moisture content (d.b) in solar cabinet dryer at air temperature, relative humidity and air velocity in the range 38 to 62°C, 45 to 55 % and 0.9 to 1 m/s, respectively. The responses taken were chlorophyll retention (mg/100g of dried sample) and texture (hardness) of dehydrated bitter gourd slices. The optimum process condition was found at 4.24 min blanching time and 0.49 % KMS which resulted in 20.15 mg/100g chlorophyll retention and 340.55 g hardness. Some selected quality attributes of solar cabinet dried bitter gourd slices pretreated with the optimized combination of blanching time and KMS were compared with the quality of freeze and open sun dried samples and it was found that quality of solar cabinet dried product was falling in between open sun and freeze dried products. Also, the drying data of bitter gourd slices obtained during solar cabinet, freeze and open sun drying were analyzed and drying constants as well as moisture diffusivity were calculated.

Keywords: blanching; sulfitation; bitter gourd slices; modeling; hardness and chlorophyll retention
Published Online: 2010-8-9

©2011 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston

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  2. Modeling of Thin-Layer Drying of Apple Slices in a Semi-Industrial Continuous Band Dryer
  3. Preparation and Structure Analysis of Noncrystalline Granular Starch
  4. Gelling Properties of Spanish Mackerel (Scomberomorus niphonius) Surimi as Affected by Washing Process and High Pressure
  5. Modelling the Effects of Feed Moisture and Ingredient Variations on the Physical Properties and Functional Characteristics of Extruded Sorghum-Groundnut-Cowpea Blends using Response Surface Methodology
  6. Solar Cabinet Drying of Bitter Gourd: Optimization of Pretreatments and Quality Evaluation
  7. Numerical Simulation of Inhomogeneous Food with Ohmic heating
  8. Evaluation of Anthocyanin Content in Red and Blue Flowers
  9. Statistical Optimization and Neural Modeling of Amylase Production from Banana Peel Using Bacillus subtilis MTCC 441
  10. The Effect of Dilution Rate upon Protein Content and Cellular Amino Acid Profiles in Chemostat Cultures of Saccharomyces Cerevisiae CABI 039916
  11. The Effects of Satay Marination on Three Beef Muscle Types
  12. Gelatinization and Retrogradation of Hydroxypropylated Cornstarch
  13. The Role of NaCl or KCl Act on Precipitation Rate and Some Properties of Mung Bean Starch
  14. Hypothesis
  15. Relating Mechanical Changes at the Glass Transition with Water Absorption Behavior of Dry Legume Seeds
https://doi.org/10.2202/1556-3758.1503
Keywords for this article
blanching; sulfitation; bitter gourd slices; modeling; hardness and chlorophyll retention

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Article
  2. Modeling of Thin-Layer Drying of Apple Slices in a Semi-Industrial Continuous Band Dryer
  3. Preparation and Structure Analysis of Noncrystalline Granular Starch
  4. Gelling Properties of Spanish Mackerel (Scomberomorus niphonius) Surimi as Affected by Washing Process and High Pressure
  5. Modelling the Effects of Feed Moisture and Ingredient Variations on the Physical Properties and Functional Characteristics of Extruded Sorghum-Groundnut-Cowpea Blends using Response Surface Methodology
  6. Solar Cabinet Drying of Bitter Gourd: Optimization of Pretreatments and Quality Evaluation
  7. Numerical Simulation of Inhomogeneous Food with Ohmic heating
  8. Evaluation of Anthocyanin Content in Red and Blue Flowers
  9. Statistical Optimization and Neural Modeling of Amylase Production from Banana Peel Using Bacillus subtilis MTCC 441
  10. The Effect of Dilution Rate upon Protein Content and Cellular Amino Acid Profiles in Chemostat Cultures of Saccharomyces Cerevisiae CABI 039916
  11. The Effects of Satay Marination on Three Beef Muscle Types
  12. Gelatinization and Retrogradation of Hydroxypropylated Cornstarch
  13. The Role of NaCl or KCl Act on Precipitation Rate and Some Properties of Mung Bean Starch
  14. Hypothesis
  15. Relating Mechanical Changes at the Glass Transition with Water Absorption Behavior of Dry Legume Seeds
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