Abstract:
Abstract: The technology of microwave foam-mat drying is a novel rapid drying technology. It is suitable for drying the fruits and vegetables that are rich in active substance and high in viscosity. But the existing study has shown that the active substance in dehydrated berry products degrades rapidly, which is resulted from the influence of light, heat and oxygen during storage. The bioactive activity of berry products, such as antioxidant has been weakened to a great degree. In order to obtain high quality dry pulp products, a novel spraying and coating technology was proposed in this study. Formation of the coating layer by spraying the protective liquid consisting soy protein isolate and maltodextrin in the later of microwave foam drying may reduce the degradation of bioactive substances in berry puree. In order to determine the reasonable technological parameters of spray embedding technology, the microwave foam-mat drying characteristics of pulp and the stability of dry pulp products during storage were analyzed. Raspberry fruit was used as material, and the microwave intensity, mass ratio of constituents of protective liquid and mass ratio of foamed berry puree and protective liquid were selected as influencing factors, and moisture content, drying temperature and degradation ratio of bioactive substance were selected as objective factors. The effects of spraying conditions on the drying characteristics of berry puree were investigated and protective mechanism of coating for the bioactive substances in berry fruit was analyzed in microwave-assisted foam drying. The micro-structure within dehydrated berry product coated by protective layer was observed by an electron microscope and anthocyanin in berry product was detected by a high efficiency liquid chromatography. Results showed that spraying and coating did not affect the drying rate and temperature due to the similar constituents of foaming agent in microwave-assisted foam drying and protective liquid in spraying and coating, as well as the close connection in technology. Compact coating layer formed by protective liquid on the surface of dehydrated berry product may effectively shield the oxygen and light to weaken the degradation of anthocyanin and vitamin C. The protective coating may improve the retention amount of cyanidine and pelargonidin dehydrated berry product during storage. Dehydrated raspberry product with high anthocyain and vitamin C could be obtained using the reasonable technology parameters with microwave intensity of 14 W/g, mass ratio of soy protein isolate and maltodextrin of 3:7, and mass ratio of foamed berry puree and protective liquid of 4:1. Spraying and coating technology may protect the bioactive substances of berry fruit in microwave-assisted foam drying to ensure the nutrition value of dehydrated berry product.