Natural Drying of Astringent and Non-Astringent Persimmon “Rojo Brillante”. Drying Kinetics and Physico-Chemical Properties
Date
2021Cita bibliográfica
González, C. M., Gil, R., Moraga, G. & Salvador, A. (2021). Natural Drying of Astringent and Non-Astringent Persimmon “Rojo Brillante”. Drying Kinetics and Physico-Chemical Properties. Foods 2021, 10, 647.Abstract
Persimmon (Diospyros kaki L.f.) crop has markedly increased in Spain, and “Rojo Brillante”
persimmon is the main cultivated variety. This astringent cultivar requires de-astringency treatment
before commercialization, which may involve an extra cost. Its short commercial season implies
handling large volumes of fruits with consequent postharvest losses. Therefore, the development of
derived added-value products is of much interest. In this study, astringent and non-astringent “Rojo
Brillante” persimmons were dehydrated by following a natural drying method used in Asia. The
drying kinetics and physico-chemical properties were analyzed for 81 days. The results indicated
subsequent reductions in weight, water content, and water activity throughout the drying process,
and the equatorial diameter decreased. All the employed thin-layer mathematical models were
suitable for representing the drying characteristics of both products with similar behavior. The
effective water diffusivity values were 5.07 1011 m2 s1 and 6.07 1011 m2 s1 for astringent
and non-astringent persimmon samples, respectively. The drying treatment significantly decreased
the soluble tannins content, and the astringent samples obtained similar values to those obtained for
the non-astringent samples in 20 days. The external and internal flesh of the astringent fruit remained
orange through the drying period, while brown coloration in the non-astringent fruit was observed
after 57 drying days. Therefore, prior de-astringency treatment would not be necessary