Effects of calcium chloride and calcium lactate applications with osmotic pretreatment on physicochemical aspects and consumer acceptances of dried papaya

This study explored the effects of calcium chloride (CaCl₂) and calcium lactate (Ca‐L) pretreatments prior to osmotic dehydration on physicochemical characteristics and consumer acceptance of dried papaya. Three different calcium concentrations 0.5, 1.5 and 2.5% (w/v)] were applied to samples before they were soaked in a 30 °Brix sucrose solution and subsequently dried at 70 °C. The results showed that the dried samples treated with calcium exhibited significantly lower moisture content, water activity, apparent density and shrinkage, while volume was higher when compared to the control. Calcium applications did not obviously influence sugar content of samples and maintained the quality of dried papaya in terms of colour and textural characteristics. Calcium chloride at 2.5% (w/v) was found to particularly impart undesirable bitterness to the dried papaya. In contrast, using 2.5% (w/v) Ca‐L provided the best acceptance scores. Thus, the use of Ca‐L could be an alternative to CaCl₂ in the pretreatment of fruits prior to drying as it offers improved quality.