Desidratação osmótica de banana utilizando soluções de fruto-oligossacarídeos e xarope de milho em diferentes temperaturas

Abstract

Banana is a perishable fruit, as it ripens fast and cannot be adequately preserved by the cold, resulting in large post-harvest losses. The application of preservation techniques, such as osmotic dehydration, reduces losses of the commodity in post-harvest stage, extend its shelf-life, while not severely affecting its nutritional values, and functional and sensorial properties, which makes it at processing alternative for the fruit. The aim of this study is to evaluate the kinetics of osmotic dehydration, as well as the quality of the osmotically dehydrated samples in terms of color, texture, and antioxidant capacity, using fructo-oligosaccharide, corn syrup and the mixture of both, under different temperatures. To determine the kinetics, the fruit, cut in cubes, was dehydrated in different solutions, under temperatures of 40, 50 and 60 ° C. The kinetics of water loss (WL) and solid gain (SG) were evalueted at 30, 60, 90, 120, 180, 240, 360, 720 to 1440 minutes. The analysis of variance was used to verify the effect of each solution and temperature on kinetics. The kinetic parameters were modeled based on the equations of Peleg, Page modified and Barbosa Junior et al. using non-linear regression. The time to reduce the dehydration rate or penetration to one third of its initial values (t(1/3)) and the process average time (t(average)) were obtained on the Barbosa Junior et al. model The quality of the samples was accessed at these two times, in different solutions under different temperatures. For such, the variation of the instrumental parameters of color, antioxidant capacity (FRAP, DPPH and total phenolic content), and texture (axial compression tests) of samples, in nature as well as processed, were verified. The WL was not affected significantly by the type of solute used, however, the temperature presented significant influence over these parameters (p < 0.05). The experimental data for the WL was adequately adjusted to the Peleg and Page modified models with coefficients of determination (R²) superior than 0.98, mean relative error (E) inferior than 6.5% in all treatments. The water loss content values varied from 15.75 to 28.79% at time t(1/3), while for the time t(averege) 15.75 to 30.27% between treatments. The process of osmotic dehydration had affect on the quality of the final product, showing significant differences between the fruits in natura and processed state, in terms of color, antioxidant capacity and texture of the samples.