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Authors
Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Rocha pear (Pyrus communis L.) is the main
cultivar produced in Portugal, usually consumed in
fresh. However, the drying of the pear can be an oppor-
tunity for development and enables the provision of
alternative products to consumers. This work evaluates
the effect of drying on some chemical and physical
properties of pears of the Rocha variety. Furthermore,
the origin of the pears was also a variable studied. For
the completion of this work, pears from five different
locations were analysed in fresh and after convective air
drying at two different temperatures, 40 and 60°C. The
properties analysed were dimensions of pears in terms
of height and diameter, total solids content, acidity,
maturation index, processing yields, colour and textural
attributes.
The results showed that the peel had lower acidity
and higher maturation index, when compared to the
pulp and that drying greatly reduced acidity, either in
the pulp or in the peel. However, this variation was not
influenced by the drying temperature. With respect to
colour, total colour differences between 25 and 50 were
observed (for the dried pears in relation to the fresh) and
in this case increasing the drying temperature caused
evident variations in the peel but not in the pulp. As to
the textural attributes, hardness and chewiness were the
ones that showed the higher changes with drying,
increasing considerably with drying temperature.
Description
Keywords
Rocha pear drying maturation index colour texture
Citation
Santos SCRVL, Guiné RPF, Barros AI. (2013) Influence of Drying on the Properties of Pears of the Rocha Variety (Pyrus communis L.). International Journal of Food Engineering, 9(2), 197-207.