Abstract:The effects of microwave power, slice thickness and loading amount on the quality attributes of persimmon slices such as color, hardness, chewiness, rehydration ratio and sensory score through using microwave drying technology. The results showed that the increase of microwave power resulted in the significant reduction (p<0.05) of the L* value and b* value of persimmon slices, while causing opposite changes in the a* value, color difference (ΔE), hardness and chewiness. The rehydration ability and sensory score first increased and then decreased, and both reached the peak values at 280 W. With the increase of slice thickness, the color of persimmon slices changed from burnt black to bright yellow, and their hardness, chewiness and sensory score improved significantly (p<0.05), with their rehydration capacity showing a downward trend. However, when the thickness exceeded 2.00 cm, the dried products exhibited reddish brown color, and L* value, b* value and sensory score decreased significantly (p<0.05), with the persimmon slices being relatively hard, sticky and difficult to chew. As the loading amount increased, the color of the dried samples was closer to that of fresh persimmon, and the hardness and toughness decreased significantly, with the rehydration ratio and sensory score increasing first then decreasing. In summary, when the microwave power was s 280 W, slice thickness was 2.00 cm, and the loading amount was 1.60 kg/m2, the values of L*, a*, b* and ΔE of the persimmon slices were 48.39, 12.89, 33.61, 24.94, respectively, the hardness was 2316.23 g, chewiness was 1106.97 g, rehydration ratio was 1.77, and sensory score was 87.80. At this moment, the product was bright in color, moderate in softness/hardness and chewy, and has good rehydration ability and advantages in terms of rich persimmon flavor and excellent sensory quality.
