Development of an Apple Snack Enriched with Probiotic : Evaluation of the Refractance Window Drying Process on Cell Viability.

The objective of this study was to develop a dried apple snack enriched with probiotics, evaluate its viability using Refractance Window (RW) drying, and compare it with conventional hot air drying (CD) and freeze-drying (FD). Apple slices were impregnated with and dried at 45 °C using RW and CD and FD. Total polyphenol content (TPC), color (∆E*), texture, and viable cell count were measured, and samples were stored for 28 days at 4 °C.

Application of CO-Laser Micro-Perforation Technology to Freeze-Drying Whole Strawberry (.): Effect on Primary Drying Time and Fruit Quality.

Freeze-drying (FD) processing preserves foods by combining the most effective traditional technologies. FD conserves the structure, shape, freshness, nutritional/bioactive value, color, and aroma at levels similar to or better than those of refrigerated and frozen foods while delivering the shelf-stable convenience of canned/hot-air-dehydrated foods. The mass transfer rate is the essential factor that can slow down the FD process, resulting in an excessive primary drying time and high energy consumption.

Effect of CO Laser Microperforation Pretreatment on the Dehydration of Apple Slices during Refractive Window Drying.

This research studied the use of CO LASER microperforation as a pretreatment for the refractive window (RW) drying of apple slices with respect to total polyphenol content (TPC), antioxidant capacity, color Δ, and product stability under accelerated storage. For this purpose, the processing variables assessed were pore size (200-600 µm), pore density (9-25 pores/cm), and drying temperature (70-90 °C). As baseline criteria, a comparison with respect to the control without microperforations and samples subjected to conventional tunnel and lyophilization were also considered.