Impact of Vacuum Assisted Oven Drying of <i>Kurut</i> on Product Quality and Drying Characteristics

Abstract

Kurut is an ancient flavor of central Asia, produced by sun-drying of yogurt. Kurut is used in preparation of pasta, soup and also in the form of yogurt by mixing with water. Alternative to sun drying, this study was aimed at conducting Kurut production by use of vacuum-oven drying (VOD) and oven drying (OD) techniques at two different temperatures (35 °C and 45 °C). Samples were coded as KV35, KV45 and K35, K45 for VOD and OD techniques, respectively. All samples were concentrated by drying in proximate composition (p > 0.05). Less progress of acidity, lower solubility ratio (p > 0.05) and lower hydroxymethyl furfural (HMF) values were maintained by VOD than OD (p E ˃ 3), more yellowish (b*) and less bright (L*) than strained yogurt. Redness (a*) was observed only in OD-applied samples (p HMF, L*, a* and b* in the OD technique (p Kurut production in a shorter time with better preservation of quality is possible.

Keywords

• <i>Kurut</i>
• yogurt
• oven drying
• vacuum-oven drying
• product quality
• drying behavior