Shrinkage, vitamin C degradation and aroma losses during infra-red drying of apple slices

The goal of this study was to determine the effect of drying temperature on the shrinkage, ascorbic acid (vitamin C) degradation and aroma retention of apples. Apple samples were found to shrink continuously until a water content value of 2 kg/kg d.b. The degradation of ascorbic acid followed a pseudo-first-order reaction and the degradation rate constant increased when temperature increased from 40 to 70 °C. The loss of aroma volatiles increased with temperature and drying time.