Color change of selected vegetables during convective air drying

Abstract

Color changes of potato, carrot and pumpkin during air drying were the subject of this study. Air convective drying was done at 70°C and 1.5 m/s. Color of the material undergoing drying was measured with chromameter and expressed in the CIE system with chromaticity coordinates x and y, and luminance Y. It has been found that drying affects color of investigated vegetables. Luminance increased and chromaticity coordinates moved toward whiteness until a specific water content was reached. Thereafter, luminance decreased and x and y coordinates moved toward the color of the raw material. It is suggested that changes of color of drying materials were due to removal of water, substitution of water by air and deformation of surface (shrinkage). At the end of drying a concentration effect seems to predominate. Rehydrated material had a different color than that of raw one. The difference was depended on the kind of material investigated and its reconstitution properties. Nevertheless the color changes irreversibly due to the changes of surface and internal structure of the material caused by drying and rehydration processes.