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The optimization of the drying process and vitamin C retention of carambola: An impact of storage and temperature
Author(s) -
Yeasmin Farjana,
Rahman Habibur,
Rana Suman,
Khan Junaeid,
Islam Nazrul
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of food processing and preservation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.511
H-Index - 48
eISSN - 1745-4549
pISSN - 0145-8892
DOI - 10.1111/jfpp.15037
Subject(s) - blanching , chemistry , water content , moisture , vitamin c , sorption , reaction rate constant , activation energy , food science , kinetics , adsorption , organic chemistry , physics , geotechnical engineering , quantum mechanics , engineering
Carambola is an excellent source of vitamin C (vit‐C) and possesses many nutritious properties. This research was directed to moisture sorption isotherm, air drying kinetics, and vit‐C degradation throughout blanching, storage, and drying of carambola. Fresh carambola contained 91.44% moisture and 24.2 mg/100 g vit‐C. The monolayer moisture content was 7.3 g/100 g solid according to Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller (BET) equation. The drying process (cabinet dryer) at different temperatures and sample thickness exposed that more the temperature, higher the drying rate at a constant thickness. Furthermore, drying rate was declined at a constant temperature with the rise of sample thickness. The samples pretreated with citric acid showed the lowest drying time and vit‐C degradation in blanching. The influence of drying temperature and duration on the retention of vit‐C was also analyzed. The activation energy ( E a ) of the vit‐C loss was 9.24 kcal/g‐mole. Higher the exposure at a constant temperature, more the reduction of vit‐C content as per first‐order reaction kinetics. During room temperature storage of whole carambola in 3 and 12 days showed 13.7% and 41.2% loss of vit‐C, respectively. Vit‐C degradation was lower for blanched than non‐blanched samples in refrigeration storage, while this change was relatively lower for both in frozen storage. Scanning electronic microscopic (SEM) studies were conducted to evaluate the effects of temperature and pretreatment on the surface morphology of dried carambola. Practical applications Carambola grows abundantly in Bangladesh. Nevertheless its availability and nutritive significance, it is not so utilized and popular in the fruit market. This yields postharvest difficulties for chemical and microbial spoilage due to its perishability. Therefore, drying of this fruit is an utmost operative and cost‐effective process. Thus, it will be accessible in off‐season and can be used for the development of new products with these dried fruits. The present investigation explores the physical and chemical properties of carambola to reveal its prospective in fruit processing. Presented information and results of this research can assist the food technologist in implementing the drying method and storage condition of carambola.