Drying is the process of reducing the 80-95% water in the fruit and vegetables to 10-20% and ensuring that they last for a long time.
However, quality characteristics such as taste, appearance, color and nutritional value should change as little as possible, and when water is added for cooking, it should be able to absorb water close to the amount they contain while fresh.
The processes in the application of the method of basing fruits and vegetables by drying are as follows.
- Pre-treatments
- Drying process
- Finishing operations
- Packaging
- Storage
Drying Fruit
The fruits to be dried should be mature, sound, free of wounds, bruises, and insect bites. The basic processes applied in drying different fruits are similar to each other and are as follows.
- Washing
- Separation from foreign materials
- Longitudinal
- Peeling according to the type of fruit
- Dividing, slicing, chopping
- Core extraction
