Recent Progress on Osmo-convective Dehydration of Fruits

Abstract

There are continuous research and industrial application for osmo-convective dehydration as a choice technology for the processing of dried fruit snacks and the development of new functional fruit snacks. Owning to the quality loss and a high energy investment associated with the convective dehydration of fresh fruits into dry snacks; osmotic dehydration prior to convective dehydration has become widely used for quality improvement, energy conservation and production of functional dried fruits snacks. In this review, we address the current knowledge in the use of osmo-convective dehydration to produce dried fruit snacks by providing information on the optimized process condition for producing such dried fruit snacks. Additionally, we present a summary of information on the effects of osmo-convective dehydration on the shelf life, nutritional quality, and microbial stability of dried fruit snacks. Finally, we provide information on the potential application of osmo-convective dehydration in developing functional fruits.