Quality improvement of dried sea cucumber by combined heat pump and hot air method

In order to improve the quality of dried sea cucumber, based on the characteristics of hot air drying, the drying characteristics (drying property curve, shrinkage property and product quality) and the rehydration quality (rehydration ratio, rheological property, sensory evaluation) of the brine salting sea cucumbers (Stichopus japonicus) by combined heat pump and hot air drying or traditional hot air drying were studied and analyzed. It was showed that the average contraction coefficient of combined drying products was the lowest, 16.64; while the average rehydration rate was 10.18, which was much higher than hot drying products; and combined drying could obviously improve rheological properties, hardness, elasticity, toughness and viscosity. It is showed that combined drying could obviously advance rehydration quality, and the product get high sensory evaluation.