Search

The quality of such processed agrifood products as dehydrated apple is related to the quality and variety offresh harvested products and connected with wastage reduction throughout the agrifood supply chain. Forthis purpose, cold-storage management is important to avoid or mitigate the quality decay of fresh prod-ucts stored in refrigerated systems. This paper explores the benefits of a two-stage stochastic programmingmodel for product quality through the selection of producers and the management of cold storage to miti-gate deterioration and guarantee the maintenance of quality. A case study with real data from an agribusinesscompany is presented in the case study to illustrate and assess the suitability of the stochastic approach. Un-certainty regarding the conversion rate of fresh apples into the final dehydrated product and the purchasecost of the apples in the system are represented through scenarios generated from historical data. Recourseactions include the purchase of additional fruit and renting of additional cold stores to meet the demand.Based on the different scenarios, the value of the stochastic solution shows that modeling and solving theproposed stochastic model minimizes costs by an average of around 6.4%. In addition, the expected valueof perfect information demonstrates that using a proactive strategy could reduce costs by up to 9%. Theseresults ensure the applicability of this model in practice before and during the harvesting season for planningand replanning as uncertainty is revealed under a rolling horizon. The authors wish to acknowledge Marcos Oliva-Fernández for his valuable comments and sugges-tions and CYTED program for supporting the thematic network BigDSS-Agro (P515RT0123).D.Sc. Marcela González-Araya would like thank to FONDECYT Project 1191764 (Chile) forits financial support and D.Sc. Wladimir Soto-Silva would like to thank MEC Project 80180022(Chile). Moreover, this work was supported by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad un-der contract TIN2017-84553-C2-2-R and the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación under contractPID2020-113614RB-C22. Jordi Mateo and Francesc Solsona are members of the research group2017-SGR363 and Lluís M. Plà of 2017-SGR01193, funded by the Generalitat de Catalunya.Also, this research was partly supported by the European Union FEDER (CAPAP-H5 networkTIN2014-53522-REDT).

In this study, drying kinetics and quality characteristics of apple cv. Starking, Gala and Granny Smith circles and squares were studied at two different drying temperatures, 60 °C and 70 °C. Drying times were varied between 85-165 min. Depending on variety, shape and temperature. The falling rate period was observed and drying rate changed depending on the drying parameters. Four mathematical models were fitted to experimental data and Logarithmic model was found to be the best for all the samples. Total phenolic contents and antioxidant capacities of dried apple samples varied in the range of 4.11-8.36 mg GAE/g dry matter and 4536.43-7370.47 mmol AEAC 100/g dry matter, respectively and showed a tendency to increase or decrease after drying depending on the variety and shape interaction. Shape had also significant effect on antioxidant capacities of samples as well as the variety (p

This research aimed to evaluate the apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of nutrients, metabolisable energy (ME) and palatability of the diet, as well as products of intestinal fermentation and faecal microbiota of dogs fed with dried apple. For this purpose, three experiments were performed. In Experiment I, digestibility and ME of four diets containing 0%, 3%, 6% and 9% dried apple were evaluated, in addition to the faecal characteristics of the dogs. The diets were offered to eight adult dogs, distributed in double Latin square (4 × 4), totalling eight repetitions per treatment. In Experiment II, products of intestinal fermentation and faecal microbiota from 16 adult dogs fed diets containing 0% and 9% dried apple for 30 d (

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of olive oil, dried apple pulp powder and pomegranate seed power in traditional pork sausage in refrigeration storage. Pork sausage were prepared, namely, T1 (traditional pork sausage batter was manually mixed) and T2 (low fat pork sausage batter was manually mixed). Pork sausage is traditionally produced by minced pork meat and pork fat. Low fat pork sausage was prepared by using minced pork meat, olive oil, dried apple pulp powder and pomegranate seed powder. The products were compared on the basis of physicochemical and sensory qualities at different interval under refrigerated (4±1°C) conditions. Among the treatments, pH was recorded lower for T2 compared to T1 treatment with the advancement of the storage periods. The mean tyrosine value and thio-barbituric acid number of all the treatment showed increasing trend with the advancement of the storage period. The sensory evaluation revealed highest scores for colour and appearance, flavour, texture, and overall acceptability for T2 than T1 but juiciness score was more in T1. The manuscript has stated that adding of dried apple pulp powder and pomegranate seed powder improved all the attributes (physicochemical and sensory) and also ensured a longer shelf-life of the product.

The objective of the current study was to explore the probiotics carrier potential of apple dried snacks and improve the survival of probiotics under simulated gastrointestinal conditions. Purposely, the probiotics were encapsulated using two hydrogel materials (sodium alginate and carrageenan) by using encapsulator. Briefly, slices of apple were immersed in solution containing free and encapsulated probiotics and then dried by conventional drying method. The dried apple snack was analyzed for different characteristics (physiochemical and microbiological) during storage. The viability of the free and encapsulated probiotics was accessed in apple snack and under simulated gastrointestinal conditions. Apple snack rich with encapsulated probiotics showed a significant result (p, The current research is helpful in broadening the spectrum of encapsulation application for the development of nonfermented product as probiotic carrier. Microencapsulation is trending technique to improve the bioavailability of probiotics under different stressed conditions. Encapsulation ensured therapeutic level (107–108 cfu/g) of probiotics in carrier food as well as under simulated gastrointestinal conditions. The experimental work is scientific basis for the stakeholders to utilize for product development at commercial level.

The influence of intermittent-microwave drying and hot-air drying on drying characteristics and rehydration properties of apple slices were compared. Microwave powers have crucially affected the drying rate, effective moisture diffusivity and drying time. As microwave power increased, the drying rate and effective moisture diffusivity increased while the drying time reduced. In intermittent-microwave drying, the effective moisture diffusivities were estimated between 4.47 × 10-9 and 2.54 × 10-8 m2 s-1. Longer drying time, slower drying rate and less effective moisture diffusivity were obtained from hot-air drying when compared to intermittent-microwave drying. Higher temperatures provided higher drying rate and effective moisture diffusivity. Effective moisture diffusivities of hot-air dried-apple slices were calculated in the range of 3.38 × 10-10–6.25 × 10-10 m2 s-1. Moreover, Page model gave the best fitting to intermittent-microwave drying curves, while hot-air drying curves were suitably described by Parabolic Model. On the other hand, the rehydration ratio of intermittent-microwave dried-apple slices was higher than hot-air dried-apple slices. Additionally, Peleg model was defined to be the best model predicting experimental rehydration data in both drying techniques. © 2020, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.

In this study, a food drying system with air heated solar collector is designed. In the designed drying system, theapples are dried. Moisture content (MCk), drying rate (DR) and humidity (MR) values of dried apple slices werecalculated. In the experiments, dehydration of the dried apple slices was simulated by the numerical analysis program.The model is designed for drying analysis. In the first case, the diameter of the apple slice is 60mm, the thickness is14mm and the surface temperature is 4°C. The inlet temperature of the drying air is 56.4°C and the air velocity is 1.6m/s. The velocity and time, moisture content and temperature change data of the dry matter were compared with theavailable experimental studies. The values obtained as a result of the simulation and the experimental studies weresimilar., Bu çalışmada hava ısıtmalı güneş kollektörlü bir gıda kurutma sistemi tasarlanmıştır. Tasarlanan kurutma sistemindeelma kurutulmuştur. Kurutulan elma dilimlerinin nem içeriği (MCk), kuruma hızı (DR) ve nem oranı (MR) değerlerihesaplanmıştır. Deneylerde kurutulan elma dilimlerinin dehidrasyonu sayısal analiz programı ile simüle edilmiştir.Kurutma analizi için birebir ölçülerde model oluşturulmuştur. İlk durumda elma diliminin çapı 60mm, kalınlığı14mm ve yüzey sıcaklığı 4°C dir. Kurutma havasının giriş sıcaklığı 56.4°C ve hava hızı 1.6m/s dir. Analiz sonucundaele edilen kuruma hızı ve zamanı, nem içeriği ve sıcaklık değişimi verileri mevcut deneysel çalışmalar ilekarşılaştırılmıştır. Simülasyon sonucu elde edilen değerler ile deneysel çalışmalar sonucu hesaplanan değerlerbenzerlik göstermiştir.

Apple pomace is a good source of bioactive components. Therefore, the use of dried apple pomace for the biofortification of wheat bread is highly justified. The aim of this work is to analyse the e...

The aim of this study was to develop an apple snack which function as a probiotic carrier. For this purpose, apple slices were impregnated with Lactobacillus paracasei and dried with either convectional or vacuum drying at 45 °C, then stored for 28 days at 4 °C. The inoculation level of probiotics was 7.42 and 7.99 log CFU/g and the population remained above 6 and 7 log CFU/g after vacuum and oven drying, respectively. SEM images demonstrated well adaptation of the bacterial cells. The total phenolic content and antioxidant capacity of control vacuum dried (CVD), probiotic vacuum dried (PVD), control oven dried (CCD), and probiotic oven dried (PCD) apple samples were 2.96, 3.94, 2.42 and 3.77 mg GAE/g and 4.66, 6.06, 4.67, 5.61 mg TAEC/g dry matter at the end of the storage, respectively. Vacuum dried apple samples (CVD) had higher sensory acceptability (P 0.05) change color of the dried apple samples. In conclusion, probiotic-enriched dried apple snacks were successfully produced with acceptable sensorial and bioactive properties and good carrier of L. paracasei.

The effects of prefreezing on the drying rate, internal structure and mechanical properties of apple fruit processed by microwave-vacuum drying (MVD) were evaluated. The drying rate of the prefrozen sample was approximately 1.2–1.3 times higher than that of the nontreated sample. In the frozen-thawed tissue, damage to the cell wall structure and cell membrane due to ice crystal formation during freezing was confirmed; thus, improvement in the drying rate was suggested to be the result of accelerated water transfer in the tissue. Structural observation using X-ray computed tomography showed that the prefrozen MVD sample had a porous internal structure with larger voids than air dried or nonpretreated samples. Alterations in the mechanical properties, such as higher maximum stress and number of peaks during the puncture test, indicating a softer and crisper texture, were observed in the prefrozen MVD sample.

To inhibit the shrinkage and deformation as well as improve texture properties of hot air (HA) dried apple cubes, osmotic pretreatment and/or instant control pressure drop (DIC) coupled with HA were investigated. Shrinkage and deformation of apple cubes with dimension of 1.5 cm at classic HA drying process of 80 °C were analyzed, when moisture content reduced to 0.60 g/g d.b., it showed significant deformation including cell and pore collapse. Only osmotic pretreatment or DIC combined with HA could not improve the appearance and texture properties of apple cubes at the same time. However, osmotic pretreatment and DIC combined with HA (MD/MCC + HA + DIC) could significantly increase crispness (57–64) and reduce hardness (138–145 N) of apple cubes, and inhibit the deformation by increasing the volume by 1.6 times compared with that of HA dried ones. MD/MCC + HA + DIC could be an emerging combined technology to obtain dried products with good appearance and texture properties.

The aim of the study was to estimate the optimal parameters of apple drying and the rehydration temperature of the obtained dried apple. Conducting both processes under such conditions is aimed at restoring the rehydrated apple to the raw material properties. The obtained drying parameters allow the drying process to be carried out in a short drying time (DT) and at low energy consumption (EC). The effect of air velocity (vd), drying temperature (Td), characteristic dimension (CD), and rehydration temperature (Tr) on rehydrated apple quality was studied. Quality parameters of the rehydrated apple as: color change (CC), mass gain ratio (MG), solid loss ratio (SL), volume gain ratio (VG) together with DT and EC were taken into consideration. The artificial neural network was used for modeling of rehydrated apple quality parameters, DT, and EC. A multi-objective genetic algorithm was developed in order to optimize parameters of the drying and rehydration processes. The simultaneous minimization of CC, SL, DT, EC, and the maximization of MG and VG were considered with the following drying and rehydration processes parameters: Td: 50–70 °C, vd: 0.01–2 m/s, Tr: 20–70 °C. The best solution has been found at drying temperature 56.1 °C, air velocity 1.3 m/s, characteristic dimension 2.0 mm, and rehydration temperature 59.2 °C. This apple drying and rehydration resulted in MG = 3.51, SL = 0.57, VG = 4.77, CC = 11.2, DT = 5.4 h, EC = 159.8 GJ/kg. The parameters of apple drying and rehydration processes can be recommended for the industry application.

Apple concentrate juice industry generates a flavored coproduct (apple aroma) recovered in the evaporation process, which is poorly valuated due to the lack of chemical characterization and standardization. In this study, industry apple aroma was characterized, allowing for the identification of 37 compounds, the majority esters (20), alcohols (7), and aldehydes (4). The storage temperature did not affect its volatile composition. Five key compounds were selected and monitored for 10 months of storage, and also compared with other three productions of another season allowing for observation of the same Aroma Index. Apple pomace was also used to produce a hydrodistillate. Contrary to the apple aroma, apple pomace hydrodistillate was unpleasant, reflected in a different volatile composition. Although no additional aroma fraction could be obtained from this wet byproduct, when dried, apple pomace presented 15 volatile compounds with toasted, caramel, sweet, and green notes. The infusions prepared with the dried apple pomace exhibited 25 volatile compounds with a very pleasant (fruity, apple-like, citrus, and spicy notes) and intense aroma. The addition of sugar changed the volatile profile, providing a less intense flavor, with almond, caramel, and sweet notes. These results show that apple aroma and pomace are high-quality flavoring agents with high potential of valuation as food ingredients.

Pulsed Electric Field (PEF) pre-treatment has been recently studied to be applied to fresh apple, carrot, and potato tissue as novel food technology to improve the drying performances and the quality of final products. Although the modification induced by PEF and the related reactions have been studied as a function of many parameters and related to several quality aspects, no relationship has been investigated with glass transition temperature (Tg) modification of solid products. This study aims to evaluate the effect of PEF treatment on the Tg of different vegetable tissues. Obtained thermograms revealed the existence of two Tg (TgI, and TgII), the first one mainly dependent from the presence of small molecules, such as sugars, organic acids and small amount of amino acids, while high molecular weight starch, fibers and small amount of proteins are associated to higher temperature values of TgII. PEF treated samples of dried apple, carrot, and potato compared to the untreated ones showed a TgII shift at 0.22 aw to a lower temperature, from 45.12 to 43.37, from 45.15 to 31.04 and from 90.23 to 85.81 °C for apple, carrot and potato respectively. The TgII shift confirmed the mobility raise of the system promoted by PEF treatment, creating a less stable matrix.

Katholischer Akademischer Ausländerdienst (KAAD)

The effect of dried apple varieties on their rehydration characteristics was investigated. Four varieties of apples, Champion, Cortland, Grey Reinette and Ligol, were taken into consideration. Rehydration properties and color of apples were investigated. In order to examine the influence of apple variety on its rehydration properties, the process of rehydration was modeled. The model parameters obtained for investigated apple varieties were compared. Apple cubes were dried in a tunnel dryer (air temperature 60 &deg, C and air velocity 2 m/s) and next rehydrated in distilled water at temperature: 20, 45 and 70 &deg, C. Mass, dry matter mass, volume and color attributes of apples (raw, dried and rehydrated) were measured. The process of rehydration was modeled using empirical (Peleg and Weibull models) and theoretical (the Fick&rsquo, s second law) models. Results of the analysis showed that the apple variety affects values of mass and volume increase, dry matter decrease and color of the rehydrated apple. Discussed parameters were also affected by rehydration temperature. Fick&rsquo, s second law model can be considered as the most appropriate. Apple variety and rehydration temperature influenced the values of the model&rsquo, s constants. Obtained values enabled attempts of the explanation of the rehydration course. It can be stated that apple var. Champion showed a greater rate of water absorption during the entire process of rehydration than other investigated varieties.

Nowadays, it is known that many vegetables and fruits can be obtained longer-lasting products with drying methods. Therefore, dried fruits are offered for consumption in Turkey. In the present study, it was investigated fat and protein contents on dried apple and pear chips. According to the results, the amount of fat and apple chips was determined as 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively. On the other hand, the protein amount of apple and pear chips was found to be 3.84% and 3.58%, respectively. Consequently, it can be said that dried fruits can be consumed as a dietary food in terms of a low amount of fat and consumable protein.

A growing demand for organic foods is driven by consumers&prime, perception that they are more nutritious. However, while there is a number of scientific studies showing some superior qualities of organically grown fruit and vegetables, including, i.e., higher content of phenolics, some vitamins and antioxidant activity, scientific research looking into the quality of processed organic products is very limited. At the same time the consumption of processed, convenient foods, with a long shelf-life, is rapidly increasing all over the world. Among the processed fruit-based products, dried fruits are recognized by consumers as one of the best snacks, highly nutritious and containing a large amount of fibre. In the presented experiment, four types of organic and conventionally produced dried fruits were examined: Apricots, apple rings, cranberries, and prunes. The concentrations of polyphenols (in all products) and carotenoids (in apricots) were measured using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The study confirms that dry fruits can be undoubtedly considered as a rich source of polyphenols, however, a large variation in the concentrations of these compounds among different brands of products was also pointed: 219.03 &plusmn, 3.90&ndash, 296.96 &plusmn, 2.86 mg 100 g&minus, 1 in dried apricots, 95.24 &plusmn, 15.12&ndash, 627.71 &plusmn, 48.64 mg 100 g&minus, 1 in dried apple rings, 14.64 &plusmn, 0.43&ndash, 203.09 &plusmn, 7.96 mg 100 g&minus, 1 in dried cranberries, and 134.65 &plusmn, 12.27&ndash, 422.44 &plusmn, 9.00 mg 100 g&minus, 1 in prunes. Carotenoids concentrations in dried apricots ranged from 2.72 &plusmn, 0.31 to 17.49 &plusmn, 0.17 &micro, g g&minus, 1. Among the tested dried fruits, only in the case of apricots organic products were characterized by the higher contents of phenolics and carotenoids compared to the conventional brands. In the case of other products there was either no consistent significant production system effect, or the concentrations of the analyzed phenolic compounds were higher in conventional products.

Present study was conducted to develop chicken sausage by incorporating wheat bran (WB) in combination with dried apple pomace (DAP) or dried carrot pomace (DCP). Treatments consisted of addition of 2% WB+ 2% DAP/ 2% DCP, 2% WB+ 4% DAP/4% DCP, 2% WB+ 6% DAP/6% DCP, 2% WB+ 8% DAP/8% DCP respectively by replacing lean meat. Casings filled with raw emulsion were cooked in a closed container for 30 minutes to prepare chicken sausages. Cooked sausages were subjected to sensory, texture profile and instrumental colour analysis. A gradual decrease in sensory scores was observed with increase in fibre level. Hardness and shear press value increased while springiness and cohesiveness decreased with increase in fibre level. A steady increase in gumminess and chewiness of WB + DCP added sausage was also noticed with increase in fibre level. Increase in DAP level in WB + DAP treated sausage produced darker sausage with higher redness scores while DCP increase resulted in lower redness and higher yellowness scores of WB + DCP sausage. It is concluded that chicken sausage with very good sensory acceptability can be prepared using a combination of wheat bran (2%) with dried apple pomace (4%) or dried carrot pomace (4%) each.

The present study aimed to understand the drivers of liking dried apple and pear chips with various textures among Chinese (n = 58), Korean (n = 58), and US (n = 56) consumers. The possibility of hedonic transfer from snack texture preferences to fruit-chip texture preferences was also investigated among Chinese and Koreans. Fourteen fruit-chip samples with four textural properties (crispy, puffy, soft, and jelly-like) were selected. Consumers rated their level of liking for each sample, and then they performed hedonic-based projective mapping with the same samples. In the hedonic texture transfer investigation, consumers rated their acceptance of nine snacks with various textures but possessing similar textures to those of dried fruit samples. The data were analyzed by ANOVA and multiple factor analysis. Most consumers disliked samples with a soft or jelly-like texture, while liked samples with a crispy texture. Cross-cultural differences were observed in the liking of puffy samples, with both Chinese and Koreans liking puffy samples as much as crispy ones for their melting characteristics in the mouth, while US consumers perceived the puffy samples as being Styrofoam-like and disliked them. Hedonic transfer was observed from snack texture preferences to fruit-chip. Individual texture preferences for snacks seem to significantly affect the texture preferences for fruit chips.

The objective of this study was to assess the potential of dried apple to regulate acute blood glucose, insulin, satiety, and total plasma antioxidant levels, and to explore the effect of dried apple on cognitive responses. Twenty-one healthy, normal-weight subjects completed the study which used a randomized crossover design with repeated measures. After a fast of 10 h, a standardized serving size of either dried apple or muffins was consumed. Blood glucose, insulin, and antioxidant concentrations were measured at 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, and 120 min postprandial, and satiety was assessed every 15 min for 2 h. Cognitive tests were administered before and 2 h after consumption of the test food. The dried apple had significantly higher phenolic content and antioxidant activities than the muffin (P ≤ .05). Consumption of the dried apples produced significantly lower glucose concentrations at 30- (P ≤ .01; 95% CI [2.93-16.64]), 45- (P ≤ .02; 95% CI [2.41-17.88]), 60- (P ≤ .02; 95% CI [2.10-14.56]), and 120-min (P ≤ .01; 95% CI [8.16-16.80]) time points, and significantly lower (P ≤ .03; 95% CI [0.60-8.70]) insulin concentrations at a 15-min time point than the muffins but offered little consistent differences in antioxidant status, satiety, and cognitive function. These findings suggested that the intake of dried apples could reduce postprandial blood glucose and potentially increase the effectiveness of insulin responses in healthy individuals but offered little consistent differences in antioxidant status, satiety, and cognitive function.

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of different packaging materials and packaging methods on changes in product characteristics during the storage period of dry products. In the experiments dried apples were used which were cut into cubes as dry product. In the packaging of dried apples, transparent doypack, metallized doypack, aluminum doypack, transparent plastic and paper materials are used. Dried products are placed in packing materials using special dosing machines to be 200 g each in each case. While atmospheric and vacuum packaging applications were used as packaging methods, only atmospheric packaging method was used in transparent plastic and pouch paper packages in terms of material properties. A total of 30 samples were prepared from each application. The packaged products were stored in the cabins in the SDU Agricultural Machinery and Technology Engineering Department laboratory. The temperature and humidity values in the cabin are recorded in the storage case. The products were stored for one year and one sample was opened and analyzed every fifteen day during the preservation process. The result of the study showed that the vacuum packaging is more successful and the aluminum layer material as the packaging material provides the highest protection. This study was supported by the BAP department of Suleyman Demirel University (Project Number: 4419-M1-15). Article DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.20319/mijst.2018.42.238255 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-commercial 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA.

Instant controlled pressure drop (ICPD) is an emerging drying technique that can produce fruit chips with crispy texture. To improve the qualities of ICPD-dried apple chips, six types of saccharide...

The infusion of Refined Liquid Smoke (RLS) during osmotic dehydration in apples slices was performed and its effect on some selected quality attributes (color, texture, and microbial load) of resulting apples was evaluated over a storage period under vacuum and non-vacuum packaging. Prior to hot air drying at 74 °C, fresh apple slices were pretreated via osmotic dehydration using either 42% w/w sugar solution or 42% w/w sugar solution with 1% food grade refined liquid smoke (RLS). The quality attributes were measured at room temperature during a storage period of five months. For control, quality attributes of convectively dried apples with no osmotic dehydration pretreatment were used. The result showed that dried apple slices pretreated in pure sugar solution retain the color of fruit better than untreated dried samples, while samples infused with RLS showed a characteristic brown coloration. Additionally, RLS infused dried apples showed better textural properties when compared with the control. In all samples, significant microbial reduction (below 5 log CFU/g) was recorded throughout the storage period. However, RLS infused dried apples showed the highest microbial growth reduction and the control showed the worst microbial growth reduction in a non-vacuum package.

The aim of this work was to investigate the effects of osmotic dehydration conditions on the properties of osmotically pre-treated dried apples. The scope of research included analysing the most important mass exchange coefficients,i.e.water loss, solid gain, reduced water content and water activity, as well as colour changes of the obtained dried product. In the study, apples were osmotically dehydrated in one of two 60% solutions: sucrose or sucrose with an addition of chokeberry juice concentrate, for 30 and 120 min, in temperatures of 40 and 60°C. Ultrasound was also used during the first 30 min of the dehydration process. After osmotic pre-treatment, apples were subjected to innovative convective drying with the puffing effect, and to freeze-drying. Temperature and dehydration time increased the effectiveness of mass exchange during osmotic dehydration. The addition of chokeberry juice concentrate to standard sucrose solution and the use of ultrasound did not change the value of solid gain and reduced water content. Water activity of the dried apple tissue was not significantly changed after osmotic dehydration, while changes in colour were significant.

Apple slices were dried in a hybrid infrared-convective dryer. An experimental design was applied to analyse drying kinetics due to the effect of infrared intensity and air temperature. Apple slices that were either 2 mm thick were dried by the infrared intensity of 0.15, 0.2 and 0.3 W/cm2 with a convective air temperature of 30, 40 and 50 °C. The rate of drying increased and the drying period reduced with increasing infrared intensity. The air temperature was increased from 30 to 50 °C, drying time decreased by 84.62 and 192.31%, respectively. The lowest SEC was recorded at 4.32 MJ/kg at an air temperature of 50 °C and IR intensity of 0.30 W/cm2. The radiation intensity increasing 0.15–0.30 W/cm2 while holding the temperature at 30 °C affected the shrinkage ratio to reduction from a high of 0.25 to a low of 0.2 and the rehydration ratio increased from 3.2 to 3.8. Various drying models were compared and the Midilli et al. equation was established to be the best fit to the experimental data when compared to the other models.

An increased intake of fruit and vegetables has been associated with decreased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, it is currently unclear as to whether particular fruits and vegetables convey more benefit than others, and if the form in which a particular fruit or vegetable is delivered, for example, depending on polyphenol content or the degree of processing, affects potential health benefits. The aim of this study was to conduct a pilot randomised placebo-controlled trial (RCT) with the ultimate aim of assessing if different apple products differentially affect CVD risk factors. The RCT was conducted in those at elevated risk of CVD. Participants were randomised to receive high polyphenol apples, low polyphenol apples, capsules containing apple extract, dried apple pieces or placebo capsules to take for four weeks. A range of risk factors and biomarkers associated with CVD were measured before and after the intervention period. A total of 55 participants were randomised and completed the study. Change in hip circumference was significantly different across the groups after 4 weeks (P=0.02) Change in fibre intake was also statistically significant between groups, with those consuming high polyphenol apples having a higher intake than those on the apple extract (P=0.01). There was a significant within-group change in fasting oxidised LDL in the apple extract group (P=0.008). A significant difference in change in volume-corrected epicatechin was observed (P=0.03), with those on apple extract having higher levels than those on placebo capsule (P=0.002) or low polyphenol apples (P=0.01) Overall, interventions were generally acceptable to participants. Apple products appeared to have a positive effect on some risk factors for CVD in this pilot study, which indicated a definitive RCT is feasible. Further adequately powered studies need to be conducted to definitively test these findings.

Microwave vacuum drying is a novel and mild food preserving technology. Beside its basic preserving function, it can be combined with other technologies, like hot-air drying. As a result of this combination, special snack can be produced from apple. The product is characterized by its unique consistency, high nutritional value, and consumer preference. In this work physical (dry mass content, hardness, bulk density, and colour), sensory (appearance, colour, odour, taste, texture) and nutritional (antioxidant activity and total phenolics) properties of dried apple snack were investigated as a function of pre-drying, microwave energy input, and batch weight. For evaluation of data, central composite experimental design was applied. According to the results, the physical properties of products produced by microwave vacuum drying combined with hot-air pre-drying (CMVD) mainly depend on the specific energy input. Higher specific energy input results higher dry mass content, which is associated with harder cons...

The presence of biologically active substances in feed mixture is discussed to have beneficial effect on animals' health and products. The purpose of the study was to determine the effect of dietary supplementation with dried apple, chokeberry, black currant, strawberry and carrot pomaces on production parameters and meat quality in fattening pigs. The use of dried pomaces of chokeberry showed tendencies for increased feed intake and reduced fattening period. The dried pomaces had no impact on saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids profile in meat, however in some groups an elevated level of polyunsaturated fatty acids from n-3 family and a decline in total cholesterol level was observed (P≤0.05). The highest oxidative stability and vitamin E content was found after supplementation with black currant (P≤0.05). Summarizing, the used dried pomaces improved several parameters related to meat quality, what might positively influence consumers' health.