Effect of Different Pretreatments on the Quality of Osmotic Dehydrated Ripe Sapota Slices

The investigation was carried out in the laboratory of post harvest technology, College of Horticulture, Dr. Y.S.R. Horticultural University, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, India, during the year 2014-2015 to study the effect of different pretreatments on the quality of osmotic dehydrated ripe sapota slices (var. kalipatti). The experiment comprises 9 treatments replicated thrice. The experiment was laid out in Complete Randomized Design (CRD). The data were subjected to statistical analysis as per the procedure outlined by [1]. The range of water loss, weight reduction, sugar gain, TSS, acidity, ascorbic acid, carotene, calcium, phosphorus were observed. An increase in duration of osmosis from 4 to 8 hours leads to increase in water loss, weight reduction and sugar gain and TSS of the dried, ripe sapota slices. However, osmotic pretreatment with invert sugar 600Brix for 8 hours resulted in highest sensory scores (7.33) while, it was lowest in slices pretreated with fructose 600Brix for 4 hours (5.00).