Effects of drying methods on the quality characteristics of mango powder

Abstract

Mango pulp of 12.5°Brix was used to obtain mango powders by freeze drying, spray drying and vacuum drying. The freeze dried product had superior quality, however the spray dried product was stable and more economical. A readily re-hydrateable mango oowder of 2.16% moisture content could be produced by freeze drying. The methods used for drying of mango pulp were found to significantly affect the colour parameters. Freeze drying seems to prevent colour changes, resulting in product with improved quality characteristics. The loss of ascorbic acid during freeze and vacuum drying were 21.5 and 31.3% respectively. The total carotenoid content decreased from 51.2 to 40.7 ug/g during freeze drying of the mango pulp. Vacuum drying caused extensive browning in the dried pulp and produced less acceptable powder compared to freeze and spray drying. Addition of maltodextrin in proportion to concentration reduced the stickiness and solubility of the final product. Sensory panelists ranked the juice prepared from the freeze dried powder highest and there were no significant differences (P>0.05) between the juice prepared from spray drying of mango pulp upto 50% maltodextrin. This study indicated that by using appropriate experimental conditions, reasonably good mango powder could be obtained.