Effect of drying and storage on quality characteristics of aonla leather

The study was under taken to prepare aonla leather by blanching of aonla fruits in boiling water for 10 min. and separation of segments and stones, followed by conversion of segments into pulp by addition of half amount of (w/w) water, followed by drying of pulp in a cabinet drier at a temperature of 58 +/- 2 degrees C up to 15% moisture level. The leather was packed in 200 and 400 g LDPE and 150 g PP pouches and was stored at low temperature (7 degrees C) and ambient conditions (18-35 degrees C) up to 6 months. Among the packaging material, 200 gauge HDPE was found to be the best for retaining better quality of aonla leather in respect of colour, flavour, texture and overall acceptability in comparison of 400 gauge LDPE and 150 gauge PP pouches for 4 months at room temperature and 6 months at low temperature (7.0 +/- 2 degrees C). The adsorption isotherm of aonla leather was found to be type-II sigmoid and 200 g HDPE as packaging material followed by storage at low temperature was the best process.