ANALYSIS OF INSTRUMENTAL AND SENSORY TEXTURE ATTRIBUTES OF MICROWAVE-CONVECTIVE DRIED APPLES

The aim of this study was investigation of the influence of microwave-convective drying parameters, like microwave power on quality of dried apple slices. Experiments were carried out under different microwave power levels (100-300 W) at temperature of 30 and 40C. The scope of the study comprised measurement of instrumental features and sensory attributes of the texture of dried. The results showed that the values of instrumental texture properties of dried apple slices depend on the parameters of the drying process. At both of the analyzed apple drying temperatures along with an increase of microwave power there was also an increase in the value of acoustic emission events and the partition power spectrum slope. Sensory analysis of texture characteristics showed that along with. an increase in the microwave power the dehydrated apple had darker color and its hardness increased. High correlations between the instrumental and sensory parameters of dried apple were observed.