Impact of Microwave Energy, Immersion Duration and Osmotic Solution on the Physical Characteristics of Intermediate Moisture Papaya var. Red Lady
Kothakota Aravind Kumar, Saji Gomez, Anu Mary Markose, Seeja Thomachan Panjikkaran, Prasad Patil and Laxmi PS
2025/06/25
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.15735845
ABSTRACT
Papaya is highly perishable due to the higher moisture content and water activity present in it. The postharvest losses are higher because of this reason. These losses can be reduced by converting them into intermediate moisture fruits by osmosis, followed by other dehydration methods. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of microwave energy, immersion duration, and osmotic solution on the intermediate moisture papaya var. Red Lady is prepared by osmotic dehydration followed by vacuum drying. Papaya fruits of mature and firm ripe stage were collected, and the juice of the fruits was concentrated to 50 °brix in microwave oven at power levels 180, 300 and 450 W. Mature and firm ripe papaya fruits were sliced and immersed in the osmotic solutions for 6, 12 and 24 hrs and then dried in vacuum oven at 40 °C. The physical characteristics were determined, and results were expressed as the mean of the triplicates. The results revealed that the intermediate moisture (IM) papaya slices had the following physical attributes: moisture content (17.92 to 24.58 %), weight loss (32.07 to 47.20 %), solid gain (33.20 to 50.58 %), water loss (67.34 to 92.58 %), water activity (0.687 to 0.855), L* (79.69 to 93.26), a* (0.11 to 2.48), and b*(4.54 to 10.96). The results of the study revealed the beneficial effects of using microwave energy and vacuum drying in the preparation of intermediate moisture products.
AUTHOR AFFILIATIONS
1 Department of Postharvest Management, Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur, Kerala, India 2 Department of Community Science, Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur, Kerala, India
CITATION
Kumar KA, Gomez S, Markose AM, Panjikkaran ST, Patil P and Laxmi PS (2025) Impact of Microwave Energy, Immersion Duration and Osmotic Solution on the Physical Characteristics of Intermediate Moisture Papaya var. Red Lady. Environmental Science Archives 4(1): 358-366.
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