PEAR DRYING: PERSPECTIVES FOR CONVECTIVE DRYING AND NUTRITIONAL EVALUATION

The present study aimed to evaluate the possibilities of introducing alterations in the method used traditionally to dry pears in Portugal, by direct open-air sun exposure.
The objective was to modernize the method, making it possible to be used on an industrial scale, more profitable and allowing the production of dried pears with improved quality.
One other objective of the present study, apart from the simplification of the traditional method, was to examine the possibility of using alternative cultivars for the production of the dried pears.
Therefore, pears of different cultivars were dried under different conditions (solar drying with the complex traditional method were compared with different stages of drying and convective air drying, in a single continuous stage, at 30, 40 and 50°C). They were then analysed in terms of their physical attributes and chemical properties, for comparison.
It was possible to conclude that the complexity of the traditional method can be avoided by drying in a continuous stage at constant temperatures, in a convective drier, without compromising the final quality of the product.
One other conclusion that was drawn from this study was that other cultivars different from the ‘S. Bartolomeu’, which is traditionally used to produce dried pears, can be used with success to obtain dried pears with very good properties.

X International Pear Symposium

R.P.F. Guiné

pear drying, convective drying, nutritional composition

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2008.800.143