Modern drying techniques in fruits and vegetables to overcome postharvest losses: A review

Abstract

Fresh fruits and vegetables have higher moisture contents and deteriorate over a short period of time if not handled appropriately. Available storage technologies such as refrigeration and controlled atmospheres are expensive as these need continuous energy for system operation throughout the whole supply chain. So, the use of drying techniques is being encouraged as it reduces the postharvest losses and provides easiness in storage, transport, and ensures product availability round the year. Drying of fruits and vegetables through conventional approaches such as sun or open‐air drying found a slow process and may lead to the inferior quality product due to contamination. Various advanced drying techniques such as solar, microwave, vacuum, infrared, freeze, oven drying, and different hybrid drying technologies have been developed around the globe as being successfully used for various fruits and vegetables. This paper mainly focuses to review crop‐specific operations, its impact on quality, efficiency, cost‐effectiveness, and nutrient retention ability. Practical applications Dried products are broadly used by the industries related to confectionery, bakery, and sweet and distilling industries in the development of versatile by‐products including sauces, teas, puddings, garnishments, and food supplements for infants as well as children. Fruits and vegetables can be dried with suitable retention of nutrients and health‐promoting compounds. Crop‐specific drying technologies have been optimized for the quality conservation of dehydrated products. Several novel drying techniques discussed in this review could be helpful to researchers and relevant industry stakeholders for application and improvement.

Drying characteristics of blue mussels by traditional methods

“…To predict the drying data all models used and models were evaluated by coefficient of determination (R 2 ), reduced chi-square (χ 2 ) and root mean square error (RMSE) parameters. Higher R 2 values and lower  2 and RMSE values were accepted as better results in the literature [4][5][6]. R 2 ,  2 and RMSE equations are given in (4), (5) and (6), respectively:…”

“…Higher R 2 values and lower  2 and RMSE values were accepted as better results in the literature [4][5][6]. R 2 ,  2 and RMSE equations are given in (4), (5) and (6), respectively:…”

“…There are many drying methods that can be found in the literature. For the last two decades, microwave and infrared drying have been taking interest as modern methods [6] in the area of dehydration of agricultural products. These modern techniques cause rapid evaporation of water and increased drying rates, thus reducing the drying time and therefore lower energy consumption.…”

Comparative Analysis of Methods Supplies Thermal Energy in High-Water Biological Objects During Drying

“…The main approach to solving the problem of increasing the utilization rate of high-potential electricity and production efficiency is the intensification of the drying process. The greatest effect is achieved when using combined drying methods [6,7].…”

An Introduction of Biomimetic System and Heat Pump Technology in Food Drying Industry

“…They have a high amount of nutritional components due to which they are considered a basic need for a balanced diet. Food products contained a high amount of moisture, such as vegetables and fruits, which have more than 80% and cereals more and less 30% [2]. Therefore, vast amounts of foodstuff deteriorate annually because of the inappropriate handling (pre-and postharvesting) and lack of processing facilities.…”