Quality of dried cauliflower according to the methods and drying parameters

¹ Department of Mechanical Engineering and Agrophysicsof University of Agricultural in Krakow, Poland
² Institute of Machinery Management, Ergonomics and Production Processes of University of Agricultural in Krakow, Poland

Abstract

The quality of food products is a complex concept. It can be defined in many ways. The common element of most of these definitions is the condition of meeting the requirements of consumers. Quality determines product compliance with the requirements set by the normalized regulations. The paper attempts to determine the optimal method and parameters of cauliflower drying. In addition, a qualitative assessment of the obtained product was made. The results show that the method and parameters of drying significantly affect the quality of the dried cauliflower. Convection drying guarantees higher drought quality with respect to the color of the sample (higher brightness), taste and odor. Of the drying parameters accepted in the experiment, the most positive effect on the tested parameters was recorded using convection drying at a flow rate of 0.2 ms^-1 and the least favorable for microwave drying 170 or 210 W.