Paprika color quality: Effect of air and natural drying treatments

Abstract

Color, browning compounds formation and total carotenoids as indicator of paprika quality were investigated under air and natural drying processes. The data resulted from air drying experiments showed an inversely relationship between the progress in temperature (40, 60 and 80°C) and the paprika quality. In natural dried samples, three different treatments were carried out (sun, dark drying and blanching + sun drying). The data revealed an irregular pattern characterized by two stages: 1 st one is biosynthetic and the second is degradative with more profound effect in light more than darkness. Multilinear regression data analysis was also employed to simulate the results especially the changes in total carotenoids as a function of time. Sensory evaluation for color of the samples indicated a large variation in responses of panelists. Low temperature treatment was recommended to favour the quality of paprika if the rate of forming browning compounds is reduced.