Quality and drying characteristics of dried papaya pretreated with binary and ternary osmotic solutions

Abstract

In this study, the effect of using binary (sucrose - water) and ternary solution (sucrose - salt - water) on mass transfer, drying characteristics, and final quality of dried papaya was investigated. Papaya pieces were immersed in three different sucrose solutions (50, 55, and 60 oBrix) with three different levels of sodium chloride (0, 3, and 5 % w/v) for five hours. Every hour, water loss, solid gain, and weight reduction of papaya in each treatment were calculated. It was found that the addition of sodium chloride led to a significant increase in both water loss and solid gain. The osmosed papaya chunks were then dried in a hot air dryer at 60 ℃. Results obtained from drying curve showed that the samples soaked in ternary solution had a higher drying rate, leading to shorter drying time. In general, the modified Henderson & Pabis appeared to be the best model to predict the drying curve of osmosed papaya from all treatments. For the final product quality, the use of ternary solution has an effect on water activity, water mobility, color, and texture properties. From the microstructure analysis, the disruption of the shape and deformation of the cell structure of papaya was likely to be seen in the sample pretreated with ternary solution compared to the sample pretreated with binary solution. Based on sensory analysis, the use of ternary solution led to better quality in color and appearance, with the overall acceptance can be considered as acceptable.