Physico-Chemical and Sensory Quality of Oven-Dried and Dehydrator-Dried Apples of the Starkrimson, Golden Delicious and Florina Cultivars

Abstract

Apple fruits are high in phenolic compounds, sugar and dietary fiber content and are rich in malic acid and vitamins, with a significant impact on the organoleptic quality and its health-promoting properties. They can be turned out in value-added product such as apple chips due to the low cost of raw material. The aim of the study was to obtain apple chips, fat-free, healthy, traditionally dried and without added sugar, which can be easily obtained and capitalized economically, as well as the evaluation of their physico-chemical and sensory qualities. The apple chips were produced from three apple cultivars (‘Starkrimson’, ‘Golden Delicious’ and ‘Florina’) by drying the apple fruits in an oven and a dehydrator at 65 °C. To inactivate the browning enzymes, the apple slices were immersed in a solution of lemon salt (4%) for 7 min before drying. Apple chips were sensory-evaluated and relevant parameters were analyzed at defined intervals during storage at room temperature up to 21 days. The water activity (aw) values of apple chip samples dried in the oven ranged from 0.544 to 0.650, while for the samples dried in the dehydrator, aw values were between 0.374 and 0.426. During the storage, the pH of apple chips varied very little, while titratable acidity increased for all samples. Compared with fresh apple slices, it was observed that the total soluble solids (TSS) content of all dried apple chip samples decreased. Color parameters and browning and whitening indexes differed depending on the apple cultivars and dryer type used.

Analysis of Material-Characterization Properties of Post-Production Waste—The Case of Apple Pomace

“…Water activity in foods indicates the degree to which water molecules are associated with food ingredients. Its value indicates the availability of water to microorganisms and thus the possibility of their growth, which affects product quality and shelf life [ 44 ]. In general, microbiologically safe material has a water activity of less than 0.6.…”

Effects of Ginger and Garlic Powders on the Physicochemical and Microbiological Characteristics of Fruit Juices during Storage

“…Water activity (aw) was measured by placing an appropriate volume of apple juice sample in a special cuvette and introduced in the water activity meter AquaLab Lite (Decagon, WA, USA) chamber. The results were displayed on the device screen [ 4 , 54 ].…”

“…Apple ( Malus domestica ) is one of the fruits that is produced in large quantities all over the world [ 4 ]. In the 2021/2022 harvest year, approximately 46 million metric tons of apples were produced in China alone and 12.28 million metric tons of apples in the European Union according to Statista [ 5 ].…”

“…Depending on the variety, apples can have a moisture content between 83.97 and 86.27%, a water activity between 0.906 and 0.910, and an average pH between 4.02 and 4.19. The total solids content of fresh apple fruit can vary between 15.00 and 16.46 °Brix, while electrical conductivity values can vary between 548 and 1854 µS/cm [ 4 ]. Additionally, apple fruits contain sugar (7.41–14.2%), malic acid (0.041–2.97%), total extractable phenolic content (0.11–0.374%), hydroxycinnamic acid (2.52–93.6 mg/kg), and flavanols (15–398 mg/kg) [ 1 ].…”

Current Research in Food Safety and Biotechnology

“…The current orientation of the food industry is focused on minimum food processing, which implies simplified, economical processing that results in maintaining a nutritional value of food products that is as high as possible. The article written by Ghinea et al [1] underlined the possibility of obtaining apple chips from three different low-cost apple cultivars through a drying process with good physico-chemical and sensory characteristics. This will lead to the possibility of their preservation and consumption for a long period of time.…”