Study of Osmotic Dehydration and Preservatives on Qualitative Characteristics of Mango (Mangifera indica L.) Slices cv. Kesar”

The experiment consisted of five levels of sugar syrup concentration viz., 80 ⁰Brix, 70 ⁰Brix, 60 ⁰Brix and 50 ⁰Brix sugar syrup concentration and no sugar syrup; four levels of chemical preservatives viz., KMS at 0.5%, sodium benzoate @ 0.5%, citric acid at 0.5% and no preservative. In all, there were twenty treatment combinations employed in this study. Matured freshly harvested mango fruits of Kesar variety were taken for experiment. The uniform size was peeled, sliced and treated with different treatments. Thereafter, the treated slices were subjected to convectional tray drying at 60 ± 2°C for 8 hr. After that the dehydrated mango slices were packed in polythene bags and kept at ambient conditions. The experiment was laid out in FCRD. The results of the study indicated that, 80 ⁰Brix sugar syrup concentrations recorded the highest TSS, sugars, acidity, ascorbic acid. Among different chemical preservative treatments, the KMS treatment was recordedthe maximum TSS, sugars, acidity, and ascorbic acid. For quality production of osmotic dehydrated mango slices treatment with 80 ⁰Brix sugar syrup concentration and KMS at 0.5% preservative would be beneficial.