Effect of CO

Area of Science:

• Food Science and Technology
• Biotechnology
• Materials Science

Background:

• Refractive window (RW) drying is an emerging technology for preserving food quality.
• Pretreatment methods are crucial for optimizing RW drying efficiency and product attributes.
• Understanding the impact of processing parameters on apple quality during drying is essential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate CO2 LASER microperforation as a pretreatment for RW drying of apple slices.
• To evaluate the effects of pore size, pore density, and drying temperature on apple quality.
• To compare RW drying with conventional and freeze-drying methods.

Main Methods:

• CO2 LASER microperforation with varying pore sizes (200-600 µm) and densities (9-25 pores/cm2).
• Refractive window drying at temperatures ranging from 70-90 °C.
• Analysis of total polyphenol content (TPC), antioxidant capacity (DPPH), color change (ΔE), and product stability under accelerated storage.

Main Results:

• Increased pore size (up to 600 µm) significantly reduced drying times (≤40 min) with minimal loss of TPC and color.
• Antioxidant capacity (DPPH) was negatively impacted by the combination of pore density and drying temperature.
• RW drying with CO2 microperforation yielded higher quality apples compared to conventional drying and was comparable to freeze-drying.

Conclusions:

• CO2 LASER microperforation is an effective pretreatment for RW drying of apples, improving efficiency and quality.
• A balance between drying temperature and pore size is critical to optimize processing time and minimize quality degradation during storage.
• RW drying offers a promising alternative to conventional methods for producing high-quality dried apple products.