Rehydration of mango powders produced by cast-tape drying, freeze drying, and spray drying

This study aimed at evaluating the drying of mango-based pulps and the rehydration properties of the resulting powders produced by cast-tape drying (CTD), freeze drying (FD), and spray drying (SD). Mango powders were characterized for wetting time, contact angle, and solubility, as well as reconstituted with distilled water for the determination of color, particle size distribution, rheology, and microstructure. Mango powders produced by CTD and FD presented the smallest contact angles, shortest wetting times, and highest solubility. All the reconstituted pulps showed pseudoplastic behavior. Mango pulps reconstituted from powders produced by SD and FD have a color similar to the raw pulp, differently for those produced by CTD (with and without maltodextrin) result of oxidation reactions that change the powder color. The selection of the drying process determines the specific characteristics of the resulting powder and reconstituted suspension because the rheological behavior of reconstituted fruit pulps is an essential property to be considered for its use. Mango pulps reconstituted from powders produced by SD are suitable for juice preparation, due to their less viscous characteristics. CTD and FD mango powders could be used in numerous food formulations.