PENGERINGAN BUAH DENGAN MENGGUNAKANVACUUM DRYING

• Main Author: Renaldi, Raymondus
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/75482
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

<p align="justify">Indonesia is the 7th largest producer of fruits in the world in 2020. However, according to Bappenas, Indonesia has a food loss and waste rate of 23-48 million tons per year due to the short shelf life of fresh fruits being one of the factors. To address the shelf life issue, preservation processes such as drying and various types of pretreatments can be done to improve the quality of the products. This study aims to determine the influence of different pretreatments and freezing processes on the quality of dried pineapple using convective drying method. The variations of pretreatment conducted were control (K), immersion in sucrose solution (G), sucrose-citric acid mixture (GS), citric acid (S), thermal blanching (B), and lime solution (KS), with and without freezing process prior to drying. From the experiments conducted, the S variation resulted in the best shelf life of dried pineapple, lasting for 106 days under room conditions with a 0.75% citric acid solution. The shelf life of dried pineapple with pretreatment variations K, G, GS, B, and K, respectively, were 61, 49, 33, 72, and 20 days. Drying and all types of pretreatments resulted in darker color of the dried pineapple compared to fresh pineapple. Drying and all types of pretreatments also produced higher firmness values for the dried pineapple compared to fresh pineapple. The freezing process prior to drying not only resulted in a darker color but also a softer texture of the dried pineapple compared to the dried pineapple without freezing. According to 32 untrained panelists in the age group of 20-24 years, the G variation was the most preferred variation of dried pineapple.