Abstract
In this work the authors have studied the effect of hot-air drying with or without a previous osmotic dehydration pretreatment to produce dried cut persimmon with a different geometry (slices and sectors). A kinetic study has been carried out analysing mass variation, colour and texture changes in samples. Two sensory analyses were also performed considering drying time and geometry. Furthermore, the influence of 35 days of storage on optical and mechanical properties was also determined. The results obtained showed that geometry did not affect the parameters analyzed. According to the results of the kinetic study, the selected drying times were 8 and 12 hours. Osmotic pretreatment does not imply improvements in the final product. Judges preferred slices dried for 8 hours without osmotic pretreatment. The time of storage did not influence the optical and mechanical properties. © 2011 Berkeley Electronic Press. All rights reserved.
