Dehydration of Sapota (Achras sapota L.) Using Ultrasound as Pretreatment

Abstract

This work examines the influence of ultrasonic pretreatment prior to air drying on dehydration of sapota (Achras sapota L.). This study allowed estimate of the effective water diffusivity in the air-drying process for sapotas submitted to ultrasonic pretreatment. Results show that the water effective diffusivity increases after application of ultrasound, causing a reduction of about 23% in the drying time. During ultrasonic treatment in distilled water, the sapota fruit displayed reduction in sugar content, so such a pretreatment stage can be a practical process to produce dried fruits with lower sugar content if it is made cost-effective.

Keywords:

• Achras sapota L
• Drying
• Optimization
• Sapota
• Sugar content
• Ultrasound

Notes

*All regressions R ² were above 0.985.