Suitability of unripe Japanese pear for semi-dried fruit processing
2017
Fujiwara, T. (Mie Prefecture Industrial Research Institute, Tsu, Mie (Japan)) | Kubo, T.
The suitability of Japanese pear for dried fruit processing at different stages of maturity was compared. Fruit from the varieties 'Kosui' and 'Hosui' were selected at the usual harvesting time point, as well as one, two and three weeks beforehand. Fruit from the last harvest tended to be more fully ripened, showed decreased pulp firmness, and the Brix value, total sugar concentration and sucrose to total sugar ratio were higher when compared with fruit harvested at earlier stages of maturity. The pH of fruit from the last harvest, however, was about the same as fruit harvested earlier. All fruits were processed using the microwave irradiation of pulp method, followed by hot air drying. This produced high-quality semi-dried fruit, as demonstrated previously. Dried fruits from early harvests were dark in color with a slight hardening of the surface and with a higher breaking force than the dried fruits from the last harvest. Sensory evaluation using the ranking method was conducted among the dried fruits with different maturities. Dried fruits from the early harvests were significantly harder and less sweet than the dried fruits from the last harvest. Interestingly, however, the preference scores of appearance, hardness and taste of dried fruits from one and two weeks before the last harvest were not significantly different from those of dried fruits harvested last, in most cases. All dried fruits, regardless of maturity, showed similar color changes after 12 weeks in storage. We conclude that unripe Japanese pear harvested within about two weeks before the usual harvesting time point is suitable for the drying process. This finding could help to improve the use of fruits affected by typhoon-related fruit drop, and could also lengthen the processing period.
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