36E-83 |
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J. DELACRUZ1, D. J. Mejia L.2, M. L. Fabian1, and H. S. Garcia1. (1) UNIDA, Instituto Tecnologico de Veracruz, M.A. de Quevedo # 2779, Col. Formando Hogar, Veracruz, Ver., 91897, Mexico, (2) AGSI, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, Rome, 00100, Italy Pineapple is the second most consumed fruit in the world just after bananas, contributing with about 20% of the global market for tropical fruits. About 60% of pineapple is consumed fresh and the remaining amount as a canned product. In recent years, consumption trends in developed countries have indicated increased demands for alternative processed products as fresh pre-cut, dried and inter-mediate moisture pineapple. The purpose of this work was to develop a dried product from pineapple, obtain drying kinetic data, monitoring color changes and study the sensory quality of the product. Fresh pineapples from the local market with 60% maturity were peeled and the pulp was mechanically blended and mixed with sugar, pectin, citric acid and ascorbic acid (batch 1). A second batch was formulated adding ground chili peppers pectin, citric acid and ascorbic acid. Both lots were air dried at 60° C with air speed of 1 m/s. The dried product was cut in 2X2 cm squares (4 mm thick). Both lots were sensory evaluated by a non-trained panel of 100 judges for acceptance. Drying kinetics data showed that 55% of the moisture was eliminated during the first 5 hours from the total drying time of 10 h. A second-order polynomial provided a good fit to the data. No changes in color were observed in either lot caused by drying. Sensory evaluation showed that the lot containing chili pepper had better acceptance (binomial test, p=0.95). The dried pineapple product may be an alternative utilization for pineapple fruits that are in seasonal surplus or when the price of fresh fruit is too low.
Session 36E, Fruit & Vegetable Products: General
2005 IFT Annual Meeting, July 15-20 - New Orleans, Louisiana |