Effects of open air and solar drying on the nutritional quality of seed oil, seeds and skins from Muscat Hamburg grapes

Abstract

Grape pomace is an agro-industrial by-product from the production of must (grape juice) by pressing whole grapes. In order to evaluate the seeds and skins of the grape pomace, it must first be dried and then separated in a screen machine. The drying of pomace is an important and necessary process for the optimum separation of seeds. The main purpose of this study was to determine the optimum drying process for obtaining high-quality grape seed oil. In this research, open air and solar energy drying methods were compared in terms of water activity, total bacterial and mold-yeast count, along with the chemical and fatty acid compositions of pressed grape residues. Oleic acid and linoleic acid contents ranged from 16.56-16.96% and 71.45-71.96%, respectively. Antioxidant activities ranged from 2.33-2.80 µmol trolox/g. The results showed that the drying methods did not decrease the nutritional quality of grape residues and prevented microbial growth by decreasing water activity to below 0.60.