In this study, the effect of pretreatments (potassium meta bisulphite and ascorbic acid) and drying air temperature (55 and 65°C) on drying behaviour of peach slices were investigated. The peach slices were dried in a cross-flow tunnel dryer. Drying of peach occurred in falling rate period. Pretreated samples had higher drying rate. To select a suitable drying curve, six thin-layer drying models were fitted to the experimental data. The logarithmic model best described the drying behaviour of peach slices with high correlation coefficient values. The effective moisture diffusivity of treated samples was higher than the untreated samples.

The radical scavenging activity, reducing power and phenolic composition of pomegranate rind powder extract (RP) were determined and antioxidant properties of RP was evaluated in cooked chicken patties compared with vitamin C (VC) during refrigerated storage. Freshly minced chicken meat were assigned to one of the following six treatments: control (meat without any antioxidant); RP 5, RP 10, RP 15 and RP 20 (5, 10, 15 and 20 mg equivalent RP phenolics 100 g )1 meat, respectively) and VC 50 (50 mg VC 100 g )1 meat). The RP exhibited significantly (P < 0.05) higher reducing power and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity. Incorporation of RP into chicken patties significantly (P < 0.05) reduced the HunterLab L* values compared with control and VC patties. Total phenolic content (as tannic acid equivalent) significantly (P < 0.05) increased from 308 in control to 441 lg g )1 in RP 20 patties. Addition of RP to chicken patties did not affect any of the sensory attributes. The values of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances were significantly (P < 0.05) reduced from 1.530 in control patties to 0.135 mg malonaldehyde kg )1 samples in RP patties. Pomegranate rind powder extract treatment (RP 10, RP 15 and RP 20) substantially inhibited (P < 0.05) lipid oxidation in cooked chicken patties to a much greater extent than VC treatment. Therefore, pomegranate rind powder can be utilized as an excellent natural antioxidant source.