Changes in the composition of tomato powder (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill) resulting from different drying methods

Abstract

Heating drying processes may cause undesirable changes in tomato composition and loss of quality, mainly in bioactive components. The objective of the study was to evaluate the effects of oven drying, heated air flow, and freeze‐drying on blanched and unblanched tomatoes. This allows choosing drying conditions with less undesirable changes. The contents of sugar, citric acid, ascorbic acid, lycopene, β‐carotene, and total phenolic compounds, and 5‐hydroxy‐2‐furaldehyde (HMF) formation were evaluated. Results revealed that samples with lower sugar content also showed higher level of HMF. The heated air flow lead to low HMF formation, low reduction of sugar and a higher concentration of lycopene, β‐carotene, phenolics, and ascorbic acid. Freeze drying lead to low levels of carotenes in the end product. In conclusion, fractions of lycopene, β‐carotene, phenolics were increased by blanching, and losses of sugars, HMF, ascorbic acid were related to blanching. Practical applications The actual applications of this research are to evaluate the behavior of bioactive components in tomatoes that underwent different drying methods. Different processing parameters may lead to undesirable changes in composition of tomatoes and cause loss of quality in dried products. The potential applications are to evaluate which parameters are capable to maintain the higher quality levels in the end product.

Recent Trends in Pretreatment of Food before Freeze-Drying

“…In addition, the freeze-dried material was characterized by lower moisture content in comparison to unblanched pumpkin. Jorge et al [48] carried out water blanching of tomato before FD and found that blanching increased the content of phenolics, lycopene and β-carotene but decreased the content of ascorbic acid and sugars. Contrary to this report, Krzykowski et al [51] observed that water blanching and microwave blanching of red pepper slightly but significantly reduced the total phenolic content and antioxidant activity of dried and powdered pepper.…”

New frozen product development from strawberries (Fragaria Ananassa Duch.)

“…The texture of strawberries changes during storage due to moisture evaporation (Asioli et al, 2018). If the moisture content in the cell decreases, the cell becomes soft and weak (Jorge et al, 2018).…”

Study on the Drying Technology of Tomato Pulp with Phytoene, Phytofluene and Lycopene Retention as Inspection Indexes

“…For example, tomato powder is usually used as a material with remarkable effects in some scientific studies [ 18 ]. β-carotene and LYC are the carotenoids that are often of concern in studies related to tomato powder drying [ 19 , 20 ]. Several studies have found an increase in β-carotene and LYC content in tomato products after drying treatment compared to fresh tomatoes, and have recognized that this proportion of increase is due to changes in extractability [ 20 ].…”

“…β-carotene and LYC are the carotenoids that are often of concern in studies related to tomato powder drying [ 19 , 20 ]. Several studies have found an increase in β-carotene and LYC content in tomato products after drying treatment compared to fresh tomatoes, and have recognized that this proportion of increase is due to changes in extractability [ 20 ]. However, some studies have found that different conditions and parameters used in drying treatments may lead to different levels of LYC degradation [ 21 ].…”