Effects of infrared heating on drying kinetics, antioxidant activity, phenolic content, and color of jujube fruit

This study investigated the effects of different infrared power (IP) levels (62, 88, and 125 W) and a pretreatment (soaking in a solution of 5 % potassium carbonate and 0.5 % olive oil) on the drying kinetics and some quality parameters of jujube fruit. The drying characteristics of jujube were greatly influenced by the pretreatment and IP level. The models of Lewis, Logarithmic, Page, and Aghbashlo et al. were fitted to the obtained experimental data using nonlinear regression analysis. The Page model showed a better fit to the experimental drying data when compared to the other models. The effective moisture diffusivity, calculated using Fick’s second law, ranged from 4.75 × 10−10 to 4.17 × 10−9 m2/s. Significantly, higher total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant capacity values were obtained for the pretreated samples subjected to higher IP levels. The total color change (ΔE) of the dried samples significantly increased with increasing IP level. Jujube fruits should be pretreated and then dried at 88 W IP to reduce phenolic degradation and undesired color changes and to increase the quality of the dried product.