EFFECT OF DRYING CONDITIONS ON STORAGE STABILITY OF TOMATO POWDER USING PACKAGING MATERIALS

Abstract

The aim of this present research was to study the effect of two different drying conditions i.e., sun drying and cabinet drying on the quality and storage stability of tomato powder using different packaging materials. Tomatoes were sorted, cleaned, and sliced into 5 mm thickness. It was then dried in sun and in cabinet dryer until the weight of tomatoes were constant. The dried tomatoes were powdered and sieved through 40 mesh size to a fine consistency which was then packed in three different packaging materials i.e., glass jar, HDPE and LDPE package. The sensory evaluation of stored tomato powder was assessed as well. The proximate composition of fresh tomato was found to be for moisture, protein, crude fiber, fat, ash and carbohydrate was 95.77 %, 18.40 %, 10.41 %, 4.71 %, 8.07 % and 58.41 % respectively on the dry basis except for moisture. The lycopene content (mg/100g), acidity (% as citric acid) and pH of tomato were found to be 15.50 %, 0.73 % and 4.23 % respectively. Both sun dried and cabinet dried samples were analyzed for the proximate components, lycopene content, acidity and pH. The result showed that retention of nutrients was better in cabinet dried tomato powder in terms of protein, fat, and fiber while retention of lycopene was better in sun dried tomato powder. There were no significant changes in acidity and pH. During storage, the chemical analysis i.e., moisture content, lycopene content and TPC at different interval showed that glass bottles gave greater protection against degradation of the chemical attributes of the dried tomato powder followed by HDPE and LDPE package. The findings of this study showed that cabinet dried tomato powder stored in glass was found superior in terms of sensory quality and storage stability.