LAUSR

Abstract The present research aimed to study the effect of Ohmic heating (OH) treatment on textural degradation and as a pretreatment step prior to drying freshly cut pineapple (Anana comosus) cubes. The fresh samples were heated up to 90oC with electric field strength (EFS: 25, 30, 35 V/cm) for a time duration (60, 90, 120, 150, 180 s), and the textural degradation and color changes were studied. The OH treated samples were dried in a tray drier at 70oC with an airflow of 0.1 m3/s and the rehydration of these dehydrated samples was carried out at room temperature (25±1 oC) for 7 h in distilled water. It was found that the maximum textural degradation occurred with the treatment time 90 and 120 s for the respective EFS. The effective moisture diffusivity during drying of the OH treated samples was found to be in the range of 1.91×10-8 to 2.30×10-8 m2/s. Non-significant differences of % mass gain and rehydration ratio were observed to increase treatment time at p>0.05. Based on the current study, OH heating can be used as an alternative to conventional blanching of fruits and vegetables prior to drying and storing.