OPTIMIZATION OF PROCESS VARIABLE FOR RTE OSMO-CONVECTIVELY DEHYDRATED CARROT SHREDS

Abstract

Background: RTE food is one of the alternatives to regular food due to its ultimate convenience so as to consume any time-at any place. The demand for these food products is increasing rapidly due to busy life style of the people. Carrot being nutritionally rich is becoming integral part of daily diet. Osmo-convective dehydration is one of the combo dehydration techniques to produce fruit and vegetable based RTE products. The different parameters of osmotic process have a prominent influence on quality of dehydrated products and hence need to evaluate the effect of process parameters on quality of dehydrated products.

Objective: The experiment was carried out to optimize the process parameters for the preparation of osmo-convective RTE carrot shreds using Response Surface Methodology.

Method: Box-Behnken design was applied for optimizing the process parameter of osmotic dehydration. Concentration and temperature of osmotic solution and process duration were investigated for water loss and solid gain during osmosis. Pre-blanched carrot shreds were osmo- convective dehydrated and analyzed for colour, hardness and overall acceptability. The process was optimized for maximum overall acceptance of osmo-convectively dehydrated carrot shreds.

Conclusion: The optimal conditions of process variable were concentration and temperature of osmotic solution of 48.58^oB and 49.35^oC respectively for 4.08 h process duration.