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416049

Chemical and Technological Evaluation of Pepino (Solanum muricatum) Fruit and Their Drying Aspects

Article

Last updated: 09 Mar 2025

Subjects

-

Tags

Horticultural Technology

Abstract

ABSTRACT
Pepino (Solanum muricatum) was recently introduced to Egypt and is mostly grown in the greenhouse. So, this study aimed to evaluate the physical and chemical characteristics of fresh pepino fruits and the effect of the drying process on the quality attributes of the dried product. The osmotic dehydration method was combined with hot-air drying at 60°C. Products with varying moisture contents (25.8%, 23.23%, 20.55%, and 18.71%, labeled as T1, T2, T3, and T4, respectively) were produced to evaluate the effect of drying on the chemical, physical, microbiological, and sensory characteristics of the treatments and to identify the optimal one. The study revealed significant differences in chemical properties as moisture content decreased: hardness and color change (∆E) values increased, while microbiological counts decreased. Statistical analysis of sensory evaluation data further indicated that treatment T3 (20.55% moisture), followed by T4 (18.71% moisture), achieved the highest general acceptance (IA) scores compared to other treatments. These findings suggest that osmotic dehydration as a partial drying pretreatment for pepino fruit slices enhances sensory properties and improves the final product quality. In conclusion, it is possible to develop gluten-free flatbreads with quality comparable to conventional bread.
 

DOI

10.21608/ftrj.2025.360407.1146

Keywords

Pepino fruits, physiochemical, nutritional, osmotic dehydration

Authors

First Name

Ayman

Last Name

Dyab

MiddleName

S.

Affiliation

Department of Horticultural Crops Technology Research Food Technology Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Giza, Egypt

Email

aymandyab@ymail.com

City

-

Orcid

0009-0004-0602-8837

First Name

Khalid

Last Name

Atieya

MiddleName

M.

Affiliation

Department of Horticultural Crops Technology Research Food Technology Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Giza, Egypt

Email

-

City

Giza

Orcid

-

First Name

Amira

Last Name

Abdallah

MiddleName

A.

Affiliation

Department of Horticultural Crops Technology Research Food Technology Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Giza, Egypt

Email

-

City

Giza

Orcid

-

Volume

7

Article Issue

1

Related Issue

53677

Issue Date

2025-03-01

Receive Date

2025-02-13

Publish Date

2025-03-01

Page Start

62

Page End

78

Online ISSN

2974-3990

Link

https://ftrj.journals.ekb.eg/article_416049.html

Detail API

http://journals.ekb.eg?_action=service&article_code=416049

Order

416,049

Type

Original Article

Type Code

2,601

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Food Technology Research Journal

Publication Link

https://ftrj.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

Chemical and Technological Evaluation of Pepino (Solanum muricatum) Fruit and Their Drying Aspects

Details

Type

Article

Created At

09 Mar 2025