Effects of Moisture Contents and Storage Temperatures on the Physical, Chemical and Microbiological Qualities of Non-Sulfitted Dried Apricots

Authors : Nihal GÜZEL, Şeref TAĞI, Mehmet ÖZKAN

Pages : 691-703

Doi:10.15832/ankutbd.959820

View : 14 | Download : 11

Publication Date : 2022-10-17

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :This study was conducted to determine the changes in the physicochemical and microbiological qualities of the non-sulfited sun dried apricots insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(NSDAs); at three different moisture contents insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(MCs, 13.7, 23.5 and 27.0%); and at four different storage temperatures insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(4, 10, 20, and 30 °C); for 12 months in bulk and packaged samples. NSDAs were subjected to physical insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(moisture, water activity, pH and reflectance colour values);, chemical insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(browning formation, β-carotene, and acidity);, and microbial insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(counts for total aerobic mesophilic and psycrofilic bacteria, yeast and mould, xerofilic mould and yeast, osmophilic yeast, lactic acid bacteria, Enterobacteriaceae, Staphylococcus-Micrococcus spp.); analyses at one-month time intervals. Results indicated that while the fastest brown colour formation occurred in the samples containing 23.5% MC and stored at 30 °C, the browning decelerated below 10 °C. No significant change was observed in β-carotene contents of NSDAs during storage insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(P>0.05);. After rehydration, osmophilic yeast count of NSDAs increased by 2.5 log colony-forming units insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(cfu/g);. Significant reductions were observed in the microbial loads of the samples at 23.5 and 27.0% MCs with the decreasing water activity insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(P<0.05); during storage and increasing storage temperatures. However, yeast and mould counts exceeded 5.0 log cfu/g of the samples containing 27.0% MC after 2-months storage at 20 °C. Overall, we suggest that MC and storage temperature for NSDAs should be below 23.5% and 20 °C to achieve high microbial and physicochemical qualities for a year, respectively.
Keywords : Dried apricots, Colour, Water activity, Browning index, carotene content, Yeast and mould counts