Study on Effect of Microwave Drying on Drying and Quality Characteristics of Guava (Psidium guajava)

The Higher water content of guava makes them highly perishable. Guava was dried to enhance storage stability, minimize packaging requirement and reduce transport weight. Osmotically dehydrated and control guava slices were microwave dried using four different power levels (20W, 40W, 60W and 80W). The osmotic dehydrated samples were found to have more moisture removal as compared to control sample. Dried guava slices were evaluated for quality attributes, viz. Vitamin C retention, rehydration ratio, color, sensory and microbial activity. Pretreated samples have more ascorbic acid retention than control sample. Drying models were developed to optimize the drying conditions in order to minimize the most production losses in the industry occur during drying, drying characteristics of guava slices was overall better predicted by the Lewis's model.