Synergistic effect of pre-treatment and microwave drying on the physicochemical and functional properties of Chausa mango peel: Process optimization and HPLC analysis to identify mangiferin

Mango processing generates a lot of waste, including mango peels (MPs). Therefore, in this work, for valorization purposes, the MPs were pretreated with steam blanching and dried with microwave dryer, followed by ultrasound-assisted extraction to recover the bioactive compounds. During drying, the moisture diffusivity and energy consumption were measured. Drying kinetics and mathematical modelling were also used to analyze the drying data. Ultrasound was used to extract the bioactive compounds from the dried MP, and mangiferin was identified and quantified using HPLC. Utilizing steam for blanching purposes increased the moisture diffusivity in the sample and, thus, reduced the energy consumption for microwave dried sample. Drying data were fitted to mathematical modelling, and according to the Akaike Information Criterion, the Page model is the best-suited model with R² 0.995–0.998 and RMSE between 0.013 and 0.032. The maximum bioactive compounds were retained at microwave-dried steam blanched sample at 540 W (MW540SB). Further, HPLC analysis confirmed the presence of mangiferin in the sample, and the blanched microwave-dried sample had the highest amount of mangiferin (2.462 mg/g) in the MP. These findings offer valuable insights for industry professionals focused on food waste valorization. Steam blanching presents an effective method to lower energy consumption while preserving mangiferin in dried MPs. The resulting dried peels can serve as a functional ingredient for fortifying food products, increasing their mangiferin content. This strategy supports sustainable practices while optimizing the nutritional value of mango peel by-products.