Influence of chemical composition and environmental conditions on the textural properties of dried fruit bars

Abstract

The influences of the composition, environmental humidity, and temperature on the stability of dried fruit bars during storage were investigated. Sultana bars were chosen to represent similar types of fruit bars. The moisture sorption isotherms and textural stability of sultana bars with and without glucose and maltodextrin additives were determined at 20°C and 40°C using the standard static gravimetric method. The shape of all of the isotherms was found to be typical of high sugar foods and could be explained by four different models. Additives and storage temperatures affected the monolayer moisture content, equilibrium moisture content, and the textural stability of the sultana bars during storage at the same water activity. The relationship between the loss of stiffness and water activity had a sigmoid shape and was explained by Fermi's equation. This paper fills an important gap with that which does not exist in a large number of sorption behaviour publications available in the literature. It presents real data explaining the true mechanism of textural change during storage with both water activity and glass transition theories for high sugar fruit pastes. The information obtained from this study may help the food producers, who make high sugar containing dried fruit products, to create better textural and sensory properties, and may also help to predict the storage stability and packaging requirements.

Keywords

• sorption isotherms
• glass transition
• textural change
• fermi equation
• sultana
• maltodextrin
• sugar