Effect of prefreezing on surface color and structural and textural properties of kiwifruit after microwave-vacuum drying with temperature control by microwave power manipulation

The present study describes the effects of prefreezing on drying rate, surface color, internal structure, and textural properties of kiwifruit treated with microwave-vacuum drying (MVD) under controlled-temperature conditions at 20, 30, and 40 °C. The prefreezing was effective in reducing the drying time in the MVD process under properly controlled temperature conditions. The MVD samples without prefreezing had the same level of low a* value (high greenness) as the freeze-dried sample, but the prefrozen-MVD samples showed a slight browning due to discoloration during thawing in an atmospheric pressure environment. The prefreezing suppressed sample shrinkage during the MVD process and allowed the formation of a porous structure with many large voids with thin walls. Thanks to this structure, the prefrozen-MVD samples showed textural characteristics similar to the freeze-dried sample, but the porous structure was not formed in the MVD at 20 ℃, indicating that a high microwave power is required to generate a high enough vapor pressure to form the porous structure.