Drying of Fruits and Vegetables

From the point of view of consumption, fruits are plant products with aromatic flavor that are naturally sweet or normally sweetened before eating. Fruits and vegetables have gained commercial importance and their growth on a commercial scale has become an important sector of the agricultural industry. Most fruits and vegetables contain more than 80% water and are therefore highly perishable. One of the prime goals of food processing or preservation is to convert perishable foods such as fruits and vegetables into stabilized products that can be stored for extended periods of time to reduce their postharvest losses. Fruits and vegetables have certain morphological features quite distinct from other natural materials used as food that greatly influence their behavior during processing and preservation, especially by drying. Fruits and vegetables are subjected to certain pretreatments with a view to improve drying characteristics and minimize adverse changes during drying and subsequent storage of the products.