Osmo-drying and quality evaluation of cauliflower genotypes Sharma Swati1,*, Singh B.K.2, Singh S.K.1 1Division of Crop Production, ICAR- Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh 2Division of Crop Improvement, ICAR- Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh *Corresponding author, Email: swtsharma92@gmail.com
Online Published on 14 September, 2022. Abstract In this investigation, twenty-five genotypes of cauliflower (Brassica oleracea L. var. botrytis) were selected. The samples were uniformly processed keeping all the processing variables (thermal and drying time) constant and dried to a shelf stable product. The effects on moisture content, ascorbic acid, rehydration ratio, antioxidant capacity and sensory acceptability of the product obtained was investigated initially and at the end of storage period. The initial moisture content in the dried cauliflower samples presented values around 4% which increased to approximately 7% at the end of storage period of 180 days. The initial values for ascorbic acid were found to be in the range of 33.8–41.7 mg/100 g DW, while on the final day of storage lowest (30.4 mg/100 g DW) was observed in entry 2020CAUMVAR4. The difference between genotypes was noted for rehydration ratio. Remarkably, good rehydration ratio >3 was observed in all cauliflower genotypes. However, it was observed that 2018CAUMVAR1 performed the best in terms of rehydration ratio and sensory acceptability. The results are useful to identify cauliflower genotypes more amenable for processing. Top Keywords Cauliflower, Drying, Shelf life, Quality, Moisture content, Sensory. Top |