AN INDUSTRIAL PROCESS FOR DEHYDRATION OF TROPICAL FRUITS: A CASE STUDY OF SAPOTA

Sapota (Achras zapota) is a tropical fruit found in several parts of India. It is one of the most popular fruits besides mango, custard apple and several others. The fruit is highly perishable and needs proper processing in order to preserve it in a dry form, preferably as a powder or granules. The high sugar content in Sapota (up to 15% on wet basis), besides high aroma and several medicinal properties makes the process of dehydration, a commercially attractive venture. The Sapota paste was dried in a convective dryer at temperatures of 40-60°C and its properties were analyzed. The properties such as water activity, sugar content and rehydration ratio were analyzed. The convective drying was compared with several other drying technologies such as heat pump assisted drying and freeze drying. The drying data was analyzed to compare effect of different operating parameters.