Influence of Blanching Pretreatment on the Drying Characteristics of Cherry Tomato and Mathematical Modeling

Abstract

The hot air drying with blanching pretreatment may provide a practical method for the production of dried cherry tomatoes. The influences of drying temperature (50°C , 60°C, 70°C and 80°C) and blanching on the drying kinetics of cherry tomatoes were studied. Nine mathematical models were evaluated and the determination of coefficient (R 2 ), chi-square (χ 2 ) and root mean square errors (RMSE) were compared. The Logarithmic model gave best results with R 2 of 0.9992 and 0.9995 for fresh and blanched cherry tomatoes, respectively. The values of effective moisture diffusivity coefficient D eff varied in the range of 1.7281 Â 10 −9 to 4.6306 Â 10 −9 m 2 s −1 for the fresh cherry tomatoes, while 2.1034 Â 10 −9 to 6.6487 Â 10 −9 m 2 s −1 for the blanched samples. The values of activation energy were 31.99 and 36.21 kJ mol −1 for the raw and blanched cherry tomatoes, respectively. Furthermore, the effect of temperature and blanching on color change of cherry tomatoes was measured.

The effects of modified blanching and oregano essential oil on drying kinetics and sensory attributes of dried meat

“…For those doses the drying time needed to reach an MR of .20 was longer, compared to 1.5 mL OEO, probably due to higher essential oil concentration. These findings are in agreement with results reported in previous studies whereas the drying time increases, the effects of blanching on drying time are becoming smaller for the cherry tomatoes (Cheng et al ).…”

“…Also after the initial phase of drying, the total time required for the drying beef control samples to reach the MR of .20 at 55 °C was about 250 min while the SB ones needed only 200 min. Therefore, SB treatment can reduce the drying time by approximately 14% to reach the same moisture content at that temperature with dose of 1.5 mL OEO, which is very similar to results reported by Cheng et al () for blanched cherry tomatoes.…”

“…The doses of OEO were 1.5, 3, and 6 mL. The MR decreased exponentially with time in all the treatments used which is consistent with the results reported in former studies (Afolabi et al 2015;Cheng et al 2015;Ismail et al 2015;Kucerova, Hubackova, Rohlik, & Banout, 2015). In Figure 1a, it might be seen that between the OT treated samples the dose of OEO affects the drying time, and even for 6 mL OEO the drying rate was slightly higher as compared to other doses in the initial period of drying, but no significant differences (p > .05) were found compared to samples treated with the other doses and the untreated control, which means that the OT itself slowed down the drying process and was not affected by the OEO dose.…”

“…Currently, there is a new study about the use of essential oils in terms of food safety during the meat drying process (Hernández et al, ); however, there is no evidence of research about the use of modified blanching treatments, in combination with essentials oils before the drying procedure and the effect on the drying behavior of the product. There are some studies analysing the effect of blanching and dipping methods, particularly, in the drying kinetics of vegetables (Afolabi, Tunde‐Akintunde, & Adeyanju, ; Cheng, Fang, & Ruan, ; Ismail, Figen, & Pişkin, 2015; Tunde‐Akintunde, Afolabi, & Akintunde, ) but to date, there have been no published studies comparing the effects of modified blanching treatments combined with the application of essential oils.…”

“…There are some studies analysing the effect of blanching and dipping methods, particularly, in the drying kinetics of vegetables (Afolabi, Tunde-Akintunde, & Adeyanju, 2015;Cheng, Fang, & Ruan, 2015;Ismail, Figen, & Pişkin, 2015; Tunde-Akintunde, Afolabi, & Akintunde, 2005) but to date, there have been no published studies comparing the effects of modified blanching treatments combined with the application of essential oils.…”