Influence of Drying Temperature and Rehydration on Selected Textural Properties of Carrots

Abstract

Cubes of carrots dried at 60, 70, 80, and 90°C were rehydrated up to 180 min at 20°C and up to 10 min at 95°C. Kinetics of cutting strength were determined for the samples soaked at 95°C. Compression stress relaxation behavior of the samples was studied on carrots rehydrated at 20 and 95°C. Kinetics of cutting strength were satisfactorily described by means of a first-order kinetic model. The compression stress relaxation of carrots was analyzed using five element Maxwell and empirical Peleg models. Both of the models were found to be appropriate for characterizing viscoelastic properties of dried and rehydrated carrot cubes. The results indicated that the use of low drying temperatures was suitable for preserving the quality attributes of carrots after rehydration, and drying air temperature of 60°C was chosen as the most appropriate for hot air processing of carrots.