Received: 3 April 2017 | Revised: 1 September 2017 | Accepted: 9 September 2017

DOI: 10.1111/jfpp.13510

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Effect of microwave blanching and brine solution pretreatment

on the quality of carrots dried in solar-biomass hybrid dryer

Aniesrani Delfiya1 | Debabandya Mohapatra2 | Nachiket Kotwaliwale2 |

A. K. Mishra2,3

1
Engineering Division, ICAR-Central Institute
of Fisheries Technology, Willingdon Island,
Kochi, Kerala 682029, India
2
Agro Produce Processing Division,
ICAR-Central Institute of Agricultural
Engineering, Nabibagh, Berasia Road,
Bhopal, India
3
ICAR-Central Institute of Agricultural
Engineering, Nabibagh, Berasia Road,
Bhopal, India
Correspondence
Debabandya Mohapatra, Agro Produce
Processing Division, ICAR-Central Institute
of Agricultural Engineering, Nabibagh,
Berasia Road, Bhopal, India.
Email: debabandya@gmail.com
Abstract
The effect of microwave blanching time (0–3 min), followed by dipping in brine solution (sample to
solution ratio 0–4) prior to drying of carrot slices and shreds in solar-biomass hybrid dryer on the
final moisture content of the samples, drying rate, rehydration ratio, color change, textural firmness
change, and beta carotene content was studied using two-factor 3 level factorial design. Pretreat-
ment parameters were optimized using response surface methodology. As the microwave
blanching time increased, there was an increase in the drying rate, rehydration ratio, and beta caro-
tene content, with minimum changes in textural firmness, color, and final moisture content.
Increase in brine solution to sample ratio impacted the drying rate and beta-carotene content in
the samples, positively. Microwave blanching time of 3 min and brine solution to sample ratio of
2 were found to be the optimum pretreatment parameters for drying of carrot slices and shreds.
Practical applications
Solar energy is abundantly available in tropical countries like India and this renewable energy can
be utilized to preserve food materials, economically. Carrots being seasonal in nature require be
drying and preserving for further use during off seasons, and potential of a solar-biomass hybrid
dryer can be tapped to reduce the energy requirement for a high energy requiring processing
operation like drying. The study recommends pretreatments to carrot slices and shreds like dry
microwave blanching, followed by brine solution dipping of carrot slices and shreds for better qual-
ity in terms of faster moisture removal leading to lower drying period, beta-carotene retention,
better rehydration characteristics as compared to control samples, where no such pretreatments
were given. This recommendation can be very well be utilized to reduce the energy demand in
food processing industry.

1 | INTRODUCTION
Carrots are well known for their nutrients viz., carotenoids, and appre-
ciable amounts of vitamins B1, B2, B6, B12, and minerals. The con-
sumption of carrot is preferred by consumers due to its high nutritive
value, antioxidant, anticancerous, and other medicinal properties
(Suvarnakuta, Devahastin, & Mujumdar, 2005). It is a rich source of
beta-carotene and is used as a salad, in the preparation of soups, stews,
curries, sweetmeats, juices, flakes, to name a few. Carotene content of
carrot ranges from 63 to 543 mg/g, depending on variety, location, and
year (Simon & Wolff, 1987). However, these root crops are seasonal in
nature and highly susceptible to moisture loss that leads to loss of fresh
appeal. The price of the carrots is fluctuating as they have limited shelf
life in the fresh conditions. Though they can be stored in the cold sto-
rages for some time; during the glut season farmers do not get a good
price for their produce. Moreover, there is lack of sufficient cold stor-
age facilities in most of the developing countries to cater to the needs
of farmers for storage of perishable commodities like carrots. There-
fore, it is imperative to preserve the carrot for extending its shelf life to
have easy availability during the off season. Additionally, value addition
can fetch better price for the commodity.
Preservation methods such as drying, cold storage, canning, and
pickling can be successfully adopted to preserve carrot for offseason
consumption. Among these methods, drying of carrot seems to be a
convenient alternative for long-term storage as compared to cold stor-
age or canned products. Carrots are dried to improve their shelf-life;

J Food Process Preserv. 2018;42:e13510. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jfpp V

C 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. | 1 of 14
https://doi.org/10.1111/jfpp.13510
2 of 14 | DELFIYA
lower shipping weights, and to minimize the loss of flavor and nutri-
tional value (Negi & Roy, 2000). Many drying techniques have been
employed to dry carrot with a goal of maintaining its appearance and
nutrients, especially beta carotene (Rubatzky, Quiros, & Simon, 1999).
Several drying methods such as solar (Sevik, 2013), convective
(Doymaz, 2004), microwave (Li, Raghavan, & Wang, 2010), vacuum
microwave, air and freeze drying (Lin, Durance, & Scaman, 1998) had
been used to dry carrot slices/cubes. Food industries use mechanical
driers for drying of food products. These dryers require a large amount
of energy from electricity or fossil fuel and the cost of equipment is
also very high. Solar dryers can be good alternative to mechanical dry-
ers, as they can be used in areas with no access to electricity. The solar
drying is a green technology; besides, there is no direct sun exposure/
environment to the products; thus limiting the contamination from dirt,
dust, flies, animals, and birds. Being in more controlled conditions, the
products are dried in a relatively shorter time in a solar dryer as com-
pared to open sun drying. Solar dryers with assistance of biomass
energy, electrical energy, or hydrocarbons have been developed and
evaluated for a wide range of agricultural commodities throughout the
world. These hybrid dryers eliminate the effect of seasonal fluctuation
of solar radiation. Solar biomass hybrid dryers have been developed in
many places and their performance has been evaluated for drying of
several agricultural commodities like ginger, turmeric (Prasad & Vijay,
2005), cashew nuts (Dhanuskodi, Wilson, & Kumarasamy, 2014) and
performed well as compared to sun drying.
Application of pretreatments to fruits and vegetables before drying
is often recommended to enhance the quality and safety of dried prod-
ucts. Blanching is one such pretreatment, which cleans the raw material
and inhibits the microbial growth, softens the plant tissue, improves
the texture, inhibits enzymatic activity that causes browning, thus helps
in retention of color and facilitates the removal of moisture during dry-
ing. Conventionally, blanching is done using hot water or steam, result-
ing in loss of water soluble nutrients and quality deterioration (Zhu &
Pan, 2009). Microwave dry blanching is proposed as a favorable alter-
native for achieving a balance between enzymatic inactivation and the
retention of nutrients and physical structures (Soysal & Soylemez,
2005). There are few reports (Brewer & Begum, 2003; Kidmose &
Martens, 1999) indicating the benefits of microwave blanching over
steam or water blanching in terms of nutrient retention such as ascor-
€ neş & Bayindirli, 1993). Gu
bic acid (Gu € neş and Bayindirli (1993)
reported that retention of ascorbic acid in microwave blanched green
beans, green peas, and carrots were better as compared to water
blanching. Kidmose and Martens (1999) investigated the effect of the
microwave, steam and water blanching on texture, microstructure, dry
matter, sugars, carotene, and drip loss of carrot slices and found that
dry matter, carotene, and sucrose content was higher in microwave
blanched samples during storage. Brewer and Begum (2003) evaluated
the effects of blanching at various microwave power levels (30%, 55%,
70%, and 100%) for times (0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 min) on peroxidase inactiva-
tion, ascorbic acid and color preservation in broccoli, green beans and
asparagus and reported that microwave power level and time had
greater effects on moisture and peroxidase activity than on color. Sra,
ET AL.
Sandhu, and Ahluwalia (2011) investigated the effect of various blanch-
ing methods (water, steam, and microwave blanching) and chemical
pretreatments (ascorbic acid, brine, potassium sorbate, and potassium
metabisulphite) before drying of carrot slices and found that water
blanching at 95 8C for 4 min followed by dipping of carrot slices in 6%
potassium metabisulphite solution for 10 min improved the rehydration
ratio, color, and retention of ascorbic acid and carotenoids.
Limited information is available on the combined effect of dry
microwave blanching followed by brine solution treatment on drying,
and quality characteristics of dried carrot. Hence, the present investiga-
tion was aimed to develop a simple carrot drying protocol for the prep-
aration of shelf-stable dried carrot with good quality characteristics. In
this study, dry microwave blanching followed by immersion in brine
solution has been used as a pretreatment prior to drying of carrot slices
and shreds in the solar-biomass hybrid dryer. Our main aim is to study
the influence of microwave blanching time and brine solution to sample
ratio on drying parameters, physical and nutrients retention of carrot
slices and shreds and optimization of pretreatment parameters using
response surface methodology (RSM).
2 | MATERIALS AND METHODS
2.1 | Preparation of carrots
Carrot (Daucus carota L.) was purchased from the local market of
Bhopal, India during December, 2017. Samples were stored in a refrig-
erator at 4 8C prior to the drying experiments. To prepare the carrots
for drying experiments, matured, fresh and undamaged carrots were
selected and washed in tap water. Washed carrots were peeled and
cut into 4–6 mm thickness slices manually using stainless steel knife
and shredded in the average length and width of 30 and 4 mm using
kitchen shredder. The average size of sliced and shredded carrots was
measured manually. All the chemicals used in this study were of
Analytical Reagent grade.
2.2 | Experimental design
As reported in the literature, microwave dry blanching and dipping in
brine solution affects drying characteristics of fruits and vegetables;
the experiments were carried out on carrot slices and shreds to find
out their influence on the final quality of carrots. A two-factor three-
level full factorial design was followed. The influence of pretreatment
parameters such as microwave blanching time (X1) and brine solution
to sample ratio (X2) on responses like final moisture content (Y1), drying
rate (Y2), rehydration ratio (Y3), total color change (Y4), texture change
(Y5), and beta-carotene content (Y6) was evaluated using RSM. Two
factors and each factor at three levels (–1, 0, 1) factorial design consist-
ing of 13 experiments including five replicates at center point was
employed for the optimization of pretreatments for carrot drying using
the solar-biomass hybrid dryer. Low and high levels of experimental
design were chosen based on the review of earlier studies (Sra et al.,
2011). Experiments were carried out individually for carrot slices and
shreds to optimize pretreatment process for both carrot slices and
DELFIYA ET AL.
shreds. An experimental combination of 0 min microwave blanching
time and dipping in 0% brine solution (distilled water) pretreatment
was the control sample (fresh carrot).
2.3 | Blanching and drying of carrots
Shredded and sliced carrots were blanched using microwave oven
(IFB-30SC1, Goa, India) operating at the 2,450 MHz frequency and
900 W microwave oven output power. For each experiment 250 g of
carrot shreds and slices were placed inside the microwave oven (micro-
wave power of 3.8 W/g) for the specified period of exposure time (0,
1.5, and 3 min). The surface temperature of the samples was measured
immediately after the microwave dry blanching with a hand held infra-
red thermometer (Estech, model no 42512, Germany, accuracy 6 1 8C).
The temperature of the samples after microwave dry blanching for 1.5
min and 3 min were 52 6 1 8C, 59 6 1 8C for shreds and 55 6 1, 64 6
1 8C for slices, respectively. Soon after microwave dry blanching, the
carrots shreds and slices were immersed in (0, 2, 4% brine solution) for
15 min, followed by surface water removal by blotting with filter paper.
The moisture content of both fresh and blanched carrots was deter-
mined by AOAC (1990) method.
Drying of carrots was done using the solar-biomass hybrid dryer
which was developed in Agro Produce Processing Division, ICAR-
Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Bhopal, India and the
schematic diagram of the dryer is shown in Figure 1.
The overall dimension of the dryer is 6 3 2 3 4 m (L 3 b 3 H) and
the capacity of the dryer is 200–250 kg/batch. This solar-biomass
hybrid dryer is designed to use solar energy as the main heat source
and biomass stoves are used only when solar radiation is not available.
In this dryer, heating is indirect because flue gases from the biomass
stoves passing through the conduction pipe and exits at the opposite
end of the pipe. Hence, the drying air and flue gas from stoves are not
having direct contact with the product, thus protecting the product
from contamination of smoke and ash of flue gas. The temperature of
the drying air could be controlled by maintaining the combustion in
stoves, with opening or closing of the primary air supply gate. The
FIGURE 1 Solar biomass hybrid dryer
| 3 of 14
dryer has six compartments with individual closer door assembly and in
each compartment, two perforated trays having effective drying area
of 0.81 m2 are housed. Two fans are placed inside the plenum chamber
for the uniform distribution of heat and another two fans are located
on the top of solar absorption tunnel to remove the surface moisture
initially. Two temperature indicators are available to monitor the ple-
num chamber temperature during drying.
Carrots (about 20 kg) were spread over the trays of the solar-
biomass hybrid dryer as a single layer after the pretreatments. The tem-
perature of the dryer was maintained between 50 and 60 8C (through
appropriate use of exhaust fans) since it is suitable for drying of vegeta-
bles. To maintain the required temperature inside the dryer, biomass
stoves (5–10 kg of briquettes) were used in both ends of conduction
heat pipes. During the drying studies, humidity sensor (Thermo-Hygro
clock J412CTH, MEXTECH, India, accuracy 60.1 8C, 61% RH) was
used to measure humidity and the plenum chamber humidity was
observed to be 40 6 5%. The temperature was measured using an
infrared thermometer (Indi 6313, India, accuracy 62 8C) and observed
to be 50 6 5 8C. The air flow rate was calculated from the air velocity
at the exhaust fan outlet measured by an anemometer (OTA TOKYO,
Japan, wind speed 1–15 m/s) and recorded as 4.15 6 0.35 m/s during
the drying studies. Drying studies were conducted from December 27,
2016 to January 21, 2017, under the climatic condition of Bhopal, India
(Latitude 23.31008 N; Longitude 77.40328 E). Solar radiation ranged
during this period was 120–680 W/m2. Drying studies were conducted
from morning 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. for 2 days. During night time
samples were removed from the dryer and stored in polyethylene
pouches. After drying, dried carrots were packed in polyethylene
pouches and stored at room temperature until further tests.
2.4 | Characteristics of dried carrot
2.4.1 | Determination of moisture content
Five grams of samples in triplicate were dried for eight hours in a hot
air oven at 105 8C in preweighed crucibles. Then crucibles were
4 of 14 | DELFIYA
transferred immediately to desiccators, cooled, and weighed. The loss
in weight represented the moisture content (on a wet basis) of the
samples (AOAC, 1990).
Moisture content wet basisðMwb Þ; %
Weight of water removed ðgÞ
5 3 100
Weight of sample taken ðgÞ
Moisture content dry basis ðMdb Þ; %
Weight of water removed ðgÞ
5 3 100
Weight of dry matter in sample ðgÞ
2.4.2 | Drying rate calculation
The drying rate (DR) is expressed as the amount of evaporated mois-
ture over time. The drying rate of samples was calculated using the fol-
lowing equation (Darvishi, Azadbakht, Rezaeiasl, & Farhang, 2013):
Mt 2 Mt1Dt
DR5
Dt
where DR is the drying rate (kg water/kg dry matter/hr), Mt
1 Dt
moisture content at t 5 t 1 Dt (kg of water/kg of dry matter), Mt is the
moisture content at time t (kg of water/kg of dry matter), and Dt is
time difference in hour.
2.4.3 | Rehydration ratio
Dried carrots were rehydrated by immersing in distilled water at room
temperature. About 5 g of dried samples were placed in glass beakers
containing water in the ratio of 1:50 (w/v) for 3 hr. Samples were
drained, blotted with tissue paper, and weighed. The rehydration
capacity was calculated as follows (Lewicki, 1998):
Wr
Rehydration Ratio5
Wd
where Wr is the drained weight (g) of the rehydrated sample, Wd is the
weight of the dry sample used for rehydration. Color, texture, and
beta-carotene content of the rehydrated samples were analyzed to cal-
culate the total change of quality characteristics after blanching to
rehydration.
2.4.4 | Color measurement
The color of carrot samples was measured using Hunter Lab colorime-
ter (LabScan XE, Hunter Associates Laboratory Inc., Reston, VA). Three
parameters viz., L* (lightness), a* (redness-greenness), and b* (yellow-
ness-blueness), were recorded at D 65/108 to study the total color
change of samples from fresh to after rehydration. L* refers to the
lightness of the samples and ranges from black (0) to white (100). A
negative value of a* indicated green, while a* positive indicated red
color. A positive b* indicated yellow color and negative indicated blue
color. The total color change (DE) was calculated as follows (Jokic et al.,
2009):
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
DE5 ðDL Þ2 1 ðDa Þ2 1ðDb Þ2
DL 5 L0 2 L ; Da 5 a0 2 a ; Db 5 b0 2 b
where L0 , a0 , b0 are the color parameters of carrot after blanching (ref-
erence sample) and L*, a*, and b* are the color values of dried carrot
ET AL.
samples after rehydration. A higher DE represented a greater color
change from the reference material.
2.4.5 | Texture analysis
(1) The firmness of samples, as an indicator of texture, was defined as the
maximum force applied to puncture the sample tissue. This physical
property was measured using a Texture Analyzer (TA.XT plus, Stable
(2) Microsystems, UK). The probe had a diameter of 5 mm and was
adjusted for a travel distance of 10 mm at a test speed of 1 mm s21.
The maximum force during puncture was measured for each sample
(Vega-Galvez et al., 2009). The mean value of firmness for each treat-
ment was observed in kg-force and the total texture change after
blanching to rehydration was calculated and expressed in percent.
2.4.6 | Beta-carotene content estimation
(3)
Beta-carotene was estimated following a method by (de Carvalho
is et al., 2012). To determine the beta carotene content, approximately
1g of the sample was taken in a mortar and crushed by adding 25 ml of
acetone. This extract was filtered and collected in a volumetric flask.
This extraction procedure was repeated until the sample became color-
less. The extract was pooled together and transferred to a 500 ml sepa-
rating funnel containing 40 ml of petroleum ether. From the extract,
acetone was removed by the slow addition of distilled water. The addi-
tion of distilled water resulted in two phase separation. The aqueous
phase was discarded. This procedure was repeated until no residual
solvent remained. Then extract was transferred to a funnel containing
15g of anhydrous sodium sulfate to a 50 ml volumetric flask. The vol-
ume was made up by petroleum ether, and the samples were read at
(4)
450 nm. The total carotenoid content was calculated using the follow-
ing formula:
A 3 V ðmlÞ 3 104
Beta carotene content ðlg=gÞ5 (6)
A1% 3 P ðgÞ
1cm
where A 5 absorbance; V 5 total extract volume (ml); P 5 Sample
% 5 2,592 (Beta carotene extinction coefficient in petro-
weight (g); A11cm
leum ether).
2.5 | Analysis of data and process optimization
Response values were analyzed by fitting the data in second order
polynomial model. The generalized second order polynomial model
proposed for predicting response variables is given as (Myers,
Montgomery, & Vining, 2002):
Yr 5b0 1 b1 X1 1 b2 X2 1 b11 X12 1 b22 X22 1 b12 X1 X2 (7)
where Yr is response variable; Y15 final moisture content (%wb);
Y2 5 drying rate (kg of water/kg of dry matter/hr); Y3 5 rehydration
(5) ratio; Y4 5 total color change; Y5 5 texture change and Y6 5 beta-caro-
tene content (mg/g of sample); X1 5 microwave blanching time (min);
X2 5 brine solution to sample ratio; b0 is model constant, b1 and b2 are
the regression coefficient for linear effect terms, b11 and b22 are coeffi-
cients of quadratic effects and b12 is interaction effect coefficient.
DELFIYA ET AL. | 5 of 14

Response surface analysis of the experimental data was carried
out using Design Expert, version 6.0.8. Regression analysis and anal-
ysis of variance (ANOVA) were conducted by fitting the experimen-
tal data to Equation 7 to determine the regression coefficients and
statistical significance of model terms. The significance of model
terms was assessed by F-ratio at a probability of 0.05. Model
adequacies were determined using model analysis, lack of fit test,
2 2
the coefficient of determination (R ), adjusted R , and coefficient of
variation (CV). Three-dimensional response surface graphs were gen-
erated based on the highest interaction between the variables to vis-
ualize the relationship between response and experimental levels of
independent variables. Fresh samples having 0 blanching time and
no brine solution treatment was the control. Numerical optimization
technique was employed to establish the optimum level of micro-
wave blanching time and brine solution to sample ratio with desired
response values. This optimization method finds the combination of
independent variables that maximizes the desirability function. Desir-
ability function ranges from zero (least desirable) outside of the limits
to one (most desirable) at the goal. The desired goal for each inde-
pendent variable and response was chosen. In this study, the desired
goals for independent variables were kept within the range while for
responses like drying rate, rehydration ratio, and beta carotene con-
tent the goals were set to the maximum and minimum goal was
fixed for final moisture content, total color change, and textural firm-
ness change.
3 | RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The quality of dried sample can be decided by comparing drying
behavior as well as rehydration ability and quality attributes of sam-
ples. A sample having minimum moisture content and texture change
and maximum drying rate, rehydration ratio, color retention and
nutrients retention, is preferable. Hence, in this study influence of
the factors viz., microwave blanching time and brine solution to sam-
ple ratio on the responses viz., final moisture content, drying rate,
rehydration ratio, total color change, texture change and beta caro-
tene content was evaluated. A total of 26 experiments including 13
experiments for carrot slices and another 13 experiments for carrot
shred were carried out to optimize the pretreatment parameters for
drying of carrot by the solar-biomass hybrid dryer. The experimental
values of responses of dried carrot slices and shreds are shown in
Tables 1 and 2, respectively. Statistical analysis was done to know
the significant effect of factors on response values. Second order
polynomial model was fixed for each response. Regression analysis
and regression coefficients were calculated to estimate the behavior
of responses as a function of independent variables. ANOVA on the
experimental data of each response variable was performed to deter-
mine the significant terms and the ANOVA results of dried carrot sli-
ces and shreds are given in Table 3. ANOVA shows that the models
are statistically significant for all responses at 95% confidence level.
Model adequacies were checked by R2, adj. R2, and CV. Both in car-
rot slices and shreds R2 values are high (> 0.80) for all the
responses. This indicates that a high proportion of variability was
explained by the data and the RSM models were adequate (Table 3).
CV values of all the responses were found to be within the accepta-
ble range (< 10%), indicating the better precision and reliability of
experiments. The lack of fit did not result in a significant p value in
the case of all the responses, which indicates that these models are
sufficiently accurate for predicting those responses. The integrated
effect of microwave blanching time and brine solution to sample
ratio on each response were represented by three-dimensional
response surface graphs.

T AB LE 1 Experimental combinations in actual (coded) levels and response values of dried carrot slices

Microwave Drying rate Beta carotene

blanching Brine solution Final moisture (kg of water/kg of Rehydration Total color Texture content
time (min) to sample ratio content (% wb) dry matter/hr) ratio change (DE) change (%) (mg/g of sample)

1.5(0) 2(0) 9.09 0.86 4.9 8.26 92.15 79.82

0(–1) 4(1) 9.51 0.84 4.39 10.98 95.13 70.65

1.5(0) 4(1) 9.17 0.88 4.6 10.17 95.38 80.38

1.5(0) 2(0) 9.72 0.84 4.71 8.43 91.69 80.45

3(1) 0(–1) 8.34 0.93 5.29 7.36 85.22 104.37

3(1) 4(1) 7.38 0.97 5.1 8.61 92.41 114.66

1.5(0) 0(–1) 10.74 0.8 4.63 9.22 93.85 75.68

1.5(0) 2(0) 8.61 0.87 4.51 8.3 91.89 79.34

0(–1) 0(–1) 13.47 0.76 3.93 12.28 99.25 67.63

1.5(0) 2(0) 8.99 0.84 4.45 8.75 91.43 79.58

3(1) 2(0) 7.98 0.94 5.38 5.65 84.88 112.78

1.5(0) 2(0) 9.84 0.87 4.85 8.12 90.98 79.89

0(–1) 2(0) 10.93 0.77 4.43 10.33 94.9 69.93

6 of 14 | DELFIYA ET AL.

T AB LE 2 Experimental combinations in actual (coded) levels and response values of dried carrot shreds

Drying rate Beta carotene

Microwave Brine solution Final moisture (kg of water/kg Rehydration Total color Texture content
blanching time (min) to sample ratio content (% wb) of dry matter/hr) ratio change (DE) change (%) (mg/g of sample)

1.5(0) 4(1) 6.56 1.505 4.43 5.1 52.43 72.35

3(1) 4(1) 4.35 1.735 4.61 3.75 50.48 86.68

1.5(0) 2(0) 6.91 1.381 5.77 3.46 48.8 69.77

1.5(0) 2(0) 7.56 1.367 5.68 3.33 48.67 69.14

1.5(0) 0(–1) 8.57 1.25 5.08 4.55 50.75 64.42

3(1) 0(–1) 5.45 1.61 6.1 1.85 44.95 75.76

1.5(0) 2(0) 7.89 1.459 5.86 3.67 47.13 69.2

1.5(0) 2(0) 7.18 1.483 5.49 3.66 48.25 69.82

0(–1) 4(1) 8.23 1.268 4.15 5.86 65.76 59.25

3(1) 2(0) 4.59 1.706 6.29 1.02 41.18 83.59

0(–1) 0(–1) 10.95 1.136 4.18 6.74 66.44 56.55

0(–1) 2(0) 8.86 1.232 4.97 4.86 60.84 58.97

1.5(0) 2(0) 7.06 1.469 5.94 2.75 48.43 70.15

3.1 | Effect of factors on final moisture content of
dried carrot
Moisture content plays an important role in storage stability of dried
products. Lower the moisture content higher will be the storage stabil-
ity and shelf life. Final moisture content values of the dried carrot slices
and shreds are shown in Tables 1 and 2, respectively. Final moisture
content of dried carrot slices and shreds ranged from 13.47 to 7.38%
(wb) and 10.95 to 4.34% (wb), respectively. A decrease in final moisture
content was observed in both the dried carrot slices and shreds with
an increase in microwave blanching time and brine solution to sample
ratio (Figures 2a and 3a). A possible reason is that increasing the micro-
wave blanching time increased the formation of porous structure in the
tissues of carrot due to microwave radiation. This heterogeneous
porous structure might have enhanced the moisture removal during
the drying period. This hypothesis is supported by the findings of sev-
eral researchers, who have observed coagulated protoplasmic material
surrounding the cell walls of spinach (Quenzer & Burns, 1981), and het-
erogeneity in the cell wall of carrot slices (Kidmose & Martens, 1999)
due to microwave blanching. Hence, the samples blanched in micro-
waves for 3 min recorded lower final moisture content than the
untreated samples. This observation corroborates with the findings
Abano and Amoah (2015), who reported that as microwave pretreat-
ment time increased from 1 to 5 min, moisture removal also increased
during microwave assisted drying of white yam.
Microwave blanching time of 3 min and the brine solution to sam-
ple ratio of 4 has recorded the minimum final moisture content of 7.38
and 4.35% (wb) for slices and shreds, respectively. Second-order poly-
nomial regression equation (in coded factors) describing the effect of
microwave blanching time and brine solution to sample ratio on the
final moisture content of dried carrot slices and shred are given in
Equations 8 and 9, respectively.
Final Moisture Content ð%wbÞSlice
5 9:52 21:7 3 MB time 21:08 (8)
3 BSS ratio 1 0:753 MB time 3 BSS ratio
Final Moisture Content ð%wbÞShred
(9)
5 7:24 22:275 3 MB time 20:97167 3 BSS ratio
where MB time is microwave blanching time (min) and BSS ratio is
brine solution to sample ratio.
On the final moisture content of dried carrot slices, both micro-
wave blanching time (X1) and brine solution to sample ratio (X2) exhib-
ited a negative linear effect (p < .01), and the interaction of two factors
(X1X2) showed positive effect (p < .05). Linear term of microwave
blanching time (X1) and brine solution to sample ratio (X2) had a negative
effect on the final moisture content of dried carrot shreds. Models had
a good fit with experimental data since the R2 values were observed as
0.919 and 0.945 for slices and shreds, respectively (Table 3).
The negative linear term of brine solution ratio on the final mois-
ture content of dried samples indicated that there may be higher tissue
damage at higher salt concentration, which enhanced the water diffu-
sion during drying. This finding is in accordance with Xiao et al. (2009),
who reported that citric acid pretreatment significantly accelerated the
drying process and improved the quality of sweet potato.
3.2 | Effect of pretreatments on drying rate of carrot
Drying rate is the quantity of moisture removed per unit dry solids per
unit drying time. Drying rate values of carrot slices and shreds are given
in Tables 1 and 2, respectively. Response surface plots (Figures 2b and
3b) show the interaction effect of microwave blanching time (MB Time)
and brine solution to sample ratio (BSS Ratio) on drying rate of carrot sli-
ces and shreds. It was observed that drying rate increased with increase
in microwave blanching time and brine solution to sample ratio for both
 DELFIYA
ET AL.

T AB LE 3 ANOVA for responses of dried carrot slices and shreds

Drying rate
Final moisture con- (kg of water/kg of Beta carotene content
tent (%wb) dry matter/hr) Rehydration ratio Total color change (DE) Texture change (%) (mg/g of sample)
Sum of squares Sum of squares Sum of squares Sum of squares Sum of squares Sum of squares
Source df Slice Shred Slice Shred Slice Shred Slice Shred Slice Shred Slice Shred

Model 5 26.64a 36.719a 0.043a 0.377a 1.530a 6.561a 33.036a 28.537a 181.458a 711.383a 2993.157a 949.008a
a
X1 – MB Time 1 17.37a 31.054a 0.036a 0.334a 1.520a 2.282a 23.880a 19.584 119.439a 530.724a 2546.16a 846.331a

X2 – BSS Ratio 1 7.02a 5.665a 0.007a 0.044a 0.010 0.785a 0.135 0.411 3.527a 7.107 54.060a 77.400a

X1 X2 1 2.25 – – – – 0.009 1.625 0.352 31.979a 44.004a 13.213a 5.631a

a
X12 1 – – – – – 2.407a 0.057 6.446 7.771a 57.721a 360.35a 5.944a
a
X22 1 – – – – – 0.533a 6.736a 1.932 25.652a 9.641 9.998a 16.892a

Residual 7 2.34 2.130 0.003 0.026 0.378 0.141 1.070 0.625 1.717 7.024 4.046 1.896

Lack of fit 3 1.27 1.492 0.002 0.014 0.218 0.020 0.842 0.056 0.913 5.259 3.356 1.146

Pure error 4 1.07 0.638 0.010 0.011 0.160 0.121 0.227 0.568 0.804 1.765 0.690 0.750

Corrected total 12 28.98 38.848 0.047 0.403 1.908 6.702 34.106 29.161 183.175 718.408 2997.203 950.905

R2 0.919 0.945 0.927 0.936 0.802 0.978 0.969 0.978 0.990 0.990 0.998 0.998

Adj. R2 0.895 0.934 0.913 0.923 0.762 0.963 0.946 0.963 0.984 0.983 0.997 0.996

C.V. % 5.35 6.37 2.15 3.54 4.13 2.69 4.36 7.67 0.537 1.93 0.90 0.75
a
Significant at p < .01.
MB Time 5 Microwave Blanching time; BSS Ratio 5 Brine Solution to Sample ratio.
|
7 of 14
8 of 14 | DELFIYA ET AL.

FIGURE 2 Response surface plots for (a) final moisture content, (b) drying rate, (c) rehydration ratio, (d) total color change, (e) texture
change, and (f) beta carotene content of dried carrot slices as function of microwave blanching time and brine solution to sample ratio

slices and shreds. Exposure of samples to microwaves for more time
accelerated the moisture removal due to an opening of the cell wall,
which allowed rapid evaporation and transport of water. Brine solution
dipping might have punctured the cell membranes of carrots, which
resulted in the easy movement of water from inside to out. Abano, Sam-
Amoah, Owusu, and Engmann (2013) studied the effect of pretreatments
on drying kinetics and sensory characteristics of dried mango and found
that drying rate of mango enhanced with the application of various pre-
treatments such as ascorbic acid (4.17 mg/ml), salt solution (0.11 g/ml),
lemon juice (0.5 v/v), and honey dipping (0.3 v/v) for 10 min.
Microwave blanching time of 3 min and brine solution to sample
ratio of 4 has recorded the maximum drying rate of 0.97 and 1.735
DELFIYA ET AL. | 9 of 14

FIGURE 3 Response surface plots for (a) final moisture content, (b) drying rate, (c) rehydration ratio, (d) total color change, (e) texture
change, and (f) beta carotene content of dried carrot shred as function of microwave blanching time and brine solution to sample ratio

 
(kg of water/kg of dry matter/hr) for carrot slices and shreds, respec- kg of water
Drying rate
tively. Second order polynomial models relating the effect of factors kg of dry matter=hr Shred (11)
on drying rate of carrot slices and shreds (in coded factors) are given 5 1:43 1 0:24 3MB time 1 0:0853 BSS ratio
as:  
kg of water
Drying rate
kg of dry matter=hr Slice (10) where MB time is microwave blanching time (min) and BSS ratio is
5 0:86 1 0:078 3MB time 1 0:0333 BSS ratio brine solution to sample ratio.
10 of 14 | DELFIYA
FIGURE 4 (a) Fresh carrot slices, (b) dried without pretreatment, (c) dried without pretreatment and rehydrated, (d) treated under optimum
conditions and dried, (e) treated, dried, and rehydrated
The linear term of microwave blanching time (X1) and brine solu-
tion to sample ratio (X2) had a significant (p < .01) positive effect on
drying rate of both carrot slices and shreds. The coefficient of determi-
nation value of the regression equations were 0.927 and 0.936 for sli-
ces and shreds, respectively (Table 3). It indicated a good fit of models
to drying rate values.
3.3 | Effect of pretreatments on rehydration ratio of
dried carrot
Rehydration ability is the most important quality index of dried sam-
ples. It also indicates the extent of physicochemical changes occurred
during pretreatment and processing conditions. Rehydration ratio val-
ues of dried carrot slices and shreds are presented in Tables 1 and 2.
Figures 2c and 3c represents the interaction effects of microwave
blanching time and brine solution to sample ratio of rehydration
capacity of dried carrot slices and shreds. Rehydration ratio increased
with increase in microwave blanching time in both slices and shreds.
The rehydration ability of dried carrot is dependent on the extent of
the structural damage to the samples during blanching and drying.
Microwave blanching up to 3 min might have caused maximum cell dis-
ruption and formation of porous structure in carrots. Hence, on
increasing microwave blanching time, increased the rehydration ratio
of dried carrot slices and shreds. Highest rehydration ratio of 4.9 was
observed in 3 min microwave blanched carrot slices, while the least
rehydration ratio (4.7) was observed in 1.5 min blanched slices (Sra
et al., 2011).
Increasing the brine solution to sample ratio up to 2 increased the
rehydration ratio. Further, increase in BSS ratio decreased the rehydra-
tion ratio due to a higher degree of structural changes resulted by the
high osmotic stress at higher salt concentration. The severity of salt
concentration might have affected the cellular structure and integrity
of carrot samples and thus affecting the rehydration ratio negatively.
FIGURE 5 (a) Fresh carrot shreds, (b) dried without pretreatment, (c) dried without pretreatment and rehydrated, (d) treated under
optimum conditions and dried, (e) treated, dried, and rehydrated
ET AL.
Rastogi, Nayak, and Raghavarao (2004) reported that rehydration
capacity of osmotic pretreated carrot was lower for samples treated at
higher concentration (20–608B). In this study, highest rehydration ratio
of 5.38 for carrot slices and 6.29 for carrot shreds were observed at 3
min microwave blanching time and brine solution to sample ratio of 2.
Model equations representing the influence of factors on rehydration
ratio of carrot slices and shreds are given as:
Rehydration ratioSlice 5 4:71 1 0:50 3 MB time 1 0:040 3 BSS ratio
(12)
Rehydration ratioShred 5 5:73 1 0:62 3 MB time 2 0:36 3 BSS ratio
2 0:059 3 MB time2 20:93 3 BSS ratio2
20:36 3 MB time 3 BSS ratio
(13)
where MB time is microwave blanching time (min) and BSS ratio is
brine solution to sample ratio.
Linear term of both factors had a positive (p < .05) effect on rehy-
dration ratio of dried carrot slices. Rehydration ratio of dried carrot
shreds had a positive linear (p < .01) and negative quadratic (p < .01)
effects of microwave blanching time, negative linear (p < .01) and quad-
ratic (p < .05) effects of brine solution to sample ratio and negative
interaction effect of both factors. R2 values indicated that 80.2 and
97.8% of the variations could be explained by the fitted models of
rehydration ratio of slices and shreds, respectively (Table 3).
3.4 | Effect of factors on total color change of dried
carrot
Color is one of the most noticeable changes by consumers in dried
products. Changes in color always occur during thermal treatments
including drying. The dried product with minimum color change is
highly preferred by consumers. Tables 1 and 2 show the total color
change values of dried carrot slices and shreds, respectively. It was
DELFIYA ET AL.
observed from the response surface plots (Figures 2d and 3d) that
increase in microwave blanching time caused a reduction in total color
change due to the complete inactivation of enzymes which causes
color changes in samples. The microwave blanching inhibited enzymatic
browning reaction and helped to improve the green color of dried
C. asiatica leaves (Trirattanapikul & Phoungchandang, 2014). Soysal
and Soylemez (2005) studied water and microwave blanching of carrot
slices and reported that microwave blanching was more effective for
inactivation of enzymes and retention of vitamin C. Increasing the brine
solution to sample ratio from 0 to 2 decreased the total color change.
The chemical pretreatment prior to drying may include sulfating and
soaking of material in sodium chloride solution for retardation of
browning; further, increase from 2 to 4 increased the total color
change. This may be due to the deposition of salt over samples after
drying at the higher concentration of brine solution.
Minimum color change value of 5.65 for dried slices and 1.02 for
dried shreds were observed at microwave blanching time of 3 min and
brine solution to sample ratio of 2. Regression equations for a total
color change of slices and shreds are given as:
Total colour changeSlice 5 8:30 2 2:00 3MB time 1 0:15 3 BSS ratio
2 0:14 3 MB time2 1 1:56 3 BSS ratio2
1 0:64 3 MB time 3 BSS ratio
(14)
Total colour changeShred 5 3:35 2 1:81 3 MB time
1 0:26 3 BSS ratio 2 0:36
(15)
3 MB time2 11:53 3 BSS ratio2
10:70 3 MB time 3 BSS ratio
where MB time is microwave blanching time (min) and BSS ratio is
brine solution to sample ratio.
Microwave blanching time had a negative linear (p < .01) and quad-
ratic (p < .05) effects, brine solution to sample ratio had positive linear
(p < .05) and quadratic (p < .01) effects and the positive (p < .05) inter-
action effect on total color change of dried carrot slices. Regression
analysis of dried carrot shreds showed that linear (p < .01) and quad-
ratic (p < .05) terms of microwave blanching time had negative effect,
linear (p < .05) and quadratic (p < .01) terms of brine solution to sample
ratio had positive effect and interaction term had positive (p < .01)
effect on total color change. The higher R2 values of 0.969 and 0.978
indicate that a higher proportion of the experimental variability was
explained by the RSM models (Table 3).
3.5 | Effect of pretreatments on texture change of
dried carrot
Textural properties of dried products are normally measured as punc-
ture force, which is a measure of the firmness of the product surface
and is an indicator of the extent of case hardening that has occurred
during drying (Lin et al., 1998). Microwave blanching time of 3 min and
brine solution to sample ratio of 2 have recorded the minimum texture
change of 84.88% (Table 1) and 41.18% (Table 2) for slices and shreds,
respectively. The increase in microwave blanching time resulted in a
decrease of textural firmness change (Figures 2e and 3e) in both
| 11 of 14
rehydrated carrot slices and shreds due to the complete inactivation of
enzymes in samples. The peroxidatic activity of peroxidase enzyme on
phenolic compounds affects the mechanical properties of cell walls
and, therefore, the firmness of vegetables (Tijskens et al., 1997).
Microwave blanching for 3 min might have resulted in complete inacti-
vation of this enzyme and thus limiting textural degradation. A
decrease in the textural firmness change was observed when brine
solution to sample ratio increased from 0 to 2. However, further
increase of brine solution to sample ratio from 2 to 4 increased the tex-
ture change due to the severity of salt treatment, which might have
damaged the cell membranes, permanently distorting the relatively rigid
cells.
Second order polynomial equations describing the relation
between texture change and factors for rehydrated carrot slices and
shreds are given as:
Texture change ð%ÞSlice 5 91:61 2 4:46 3MB time 1 0:773 BSS ratio
2 1:68 3 MB time2 1 3:05 3 BSS ratio2
1 2:83 3 MB time 3 BSS ratio
(16)
Texture change ð%ÞShred 5 47:90 2 9:41 3MB time 1 1:09 3 BSS ratio
1 3:99 3 MB time2 1 4:57 3 BSS ratio2
11:55 3 MB time 3 BSS ratio
(17)
where MB time is microwave blanching time (min) and BSS ratio is
brine solution to sample ratio.
Both factors have shown significant (p < .01) influence on texture
change of dried carrot slices (Table 3). Linear and quadratic terms of
microwave blanching time had a negative effect, brine solution to sam-
ple ratio had a positive linear and quadratic effects and positive interac-
tion effect on texture change of dried slices. Dried shreds also
significantly influenced by microwave blanching time (p < .01) and brine
solution to sample ratio (p < .05). Microwave blanching time had a neg-
ative linear and positive quadratic effect, brine solution to sample ratio
had a positive linear and quadratic effects and positive interaction
effect on texture change of dried carrot shreds. The R2 values were
obtained as 0.990 and 0.990 for slices and shreds, respectively.
3.6 | Effect of pretreatments on beta-carotene
content of dried carrot
Beta-carotene content of dried carrots is important since the consump-
tion of carrot is preferred by the consumers due to its high nutritive
value. Beta-carotene content of dried carrot slices and shreds are pre-
sented in Tables 1 and 2. Increase in microwave blanching time and
brine solution to sample ratio resulted in an increase in beta carotene
content of dried slices and shreds (Figures 2f and 3f). This might be
due to the improvement in the availability of carotenoid pigments,
which is caused by the breaking down of the crystalline carotenoid
complexes and breaking down of pectin in carrot cell wall during pre-
treatment (Sharma, Chen, & Vu Lan, 2009). Kamel (2013) reported that
carotenoid content of parsley and dill leaves increased when micro-
wave blanching time increased from 0 to 1 min. The increase of
12 of 14 | DELFIYA
T AB LE 4 Predicted and experimental values of responses at optimum conditions for drying of carrot slices and shreds
Carrot slices
Response Predicted value Actual value 6 SD
Final moisture content (%wb) 7.82 8.23 6 0.25
Drying rate (kg of water/kg 0.94 0.86 6 0.02
of dry matter/hr)
Rehydration ratio 5.21 5.17 6 0.15
Total color change (DE) 6.16 6.68 6 0.18
Texture change (%) 85.46 86.58 6 3.12
Beta carotene content (mg/g of sample) 111.86 109.19 6 3.27
Error (%) 5 (Predicted value – Actual value) / Predicted value 3 100.
SD 5 standard deviation.
carotenoid after one minute was due to the heat treatment that
enhanced the liberation and bioavailability of carotenoids. Cooking par-
tially dissolves cellulose-thickened cell walls, freeing up nutrients by
breaking the cell membranes (Puuponen-Pimia et al., 2003). The maxi-
mum beta-carotene content of 114.66 and 86.68 (mg/g of sample)
were observed in carrot slices and shreds, respectively, which were
treated at microwave blanching time of 3 min and brine solution to
sample ratio of 4. Regression equations describing the effect of process
variables on beta carotene content of dried carrot slices and shreds are
given as:
Beta carotene content ðlg=g of sampleÞSlice
5 79:85 1 20:60 3MB time 1 3:00 3 BSS ratio 1 11:423 MB time2
21:90 3 BSS ratio2 11:82 3 MB time 3 BSS ratio
(18)
Beta carotene content ðlg=g of sampleÞShred
5 69:68 1 11:88 3MB time 1 3:59 3 BSS ratio 1 1:43 3 MB time2
21:47 3 BSS ratio2 1 2:06 3 MB time 3 BSS ratio
(19)
where MB time is microwave blanching time (min) and BSS ratio is
brine solution to sample ratio.
Both factors had a significant (p < .01) effect on beta carotene
content of dried carrot slices and shreds. Microwave blanching time
had a positive linear and quadratic effects, brine solution to sample
ratio had a positive linear and negative quadratic effects and positive
interaction effect on beta carotene content of dried slices and shreds.
2
R values for beta carotene content of slices and shreds were observed
as 0.998 and 0.998, respectively (Table 3).
3.7 | Optimization and validation
Numerical optimization technique was adopted to predict the optimum
pretreatment parameters viz., microwave blanching time and brine
solution to sample ratio for drying of carrot slices and shreds using the
solar-biomass hybrid dryer. The selected constraints for the optimiza-
tion of pretreatments for carrot drying are as follows: minimum final
moisture content, total color change, texture change and maximum
drying rate, rehydration ratio, beta carotene content. The solution
ET AL.
Carrot shreds
Error (%) Predicted value Actual value 6 SD Error (%)
25.24 4.97 4.56 6 0.16 8.25
8.51 1.67 1.53 6 0.07 8.38
0.77 6.29 6.05 6 0.18 3.81
28.44 1.19 1.12 6 0.03 5.88
21.31 42.49 40.54 6 0.81 4.59
2.39 82.98 89.51 6 2.68 27.87
which obtained maximum desirability was selected as the optimum
conditions for drying of carrot slices and shreds.
The microwave blanching time of 3 min and brine solution to sam-
ple ratio of 2 were found to be the optimum pretreatment parameters
for drying of carrot slices and shreds with the maximum desirability val-
ues of 0.912 and 0.930, respectively. Drying experiments were per-
formed under optimum process parameters and the response values
were determined. Table 4 shows the predicted and experimental
(n 5 3) response values under the optimum process parameters. Valida-
tion showed a good agreement between the predicted and experimen-
tal response values. Least deviations were observed between
experimental and predicted values. Hence, the obtained second-order
polynomial models could be used to predict the responses at any value
of factors for drying of carrot slices and shreds. Microwave blanching
time of 3 min and brine solution to sample ratio of 2 have recorded the
minimum final moisture content of 8.23% (wb), total color change of
6.68, texture change of 86.58% and maximum drying rate of 0.86 (kg
of water/kg of dry matter/hr), rehydration ratio of 5.17, beta carotene
content of 109.19 (mg/g of sample) for dried carrot slices. Dried carrot
shreds recorded minimum final moisture content of 4.56% (wb), total
color change of 1.12, texture change of 40.54% and maximum drying
rate of 1.53 (kg of water/kg of dry matter/hr), rehydration ratio of
6.05, beta carotene content of 89.51 (mg/g of sample) at the micro-
wave blanching time of 3 min and brine solution to sample ratio of 2.
Shrinkage of carrot slices and shreds were observed as 6.86 and 7.54
and these values are closer to the rehydration ratio of slices and shreds.
Fresh, untreated dried and rehydrated, treated dried and rehydrated
samples of carrot slices and shreds are shown in Figures 3 and 4,
respectively.
4 | CONCLUSIONS
The study concluded that the pretreatments like microwave blanching
followed by brine solution dipping of carrots prior to drying, affects
the quality of dried carrots positively. The optimized process parame-
ters can be used to prepare the dried carrot slices and shreds with
minimum final moisture content, total color change, texture change
and maximum drying rate, rehydration ratio, beta-carotene content
DELFIYA ET AL.
using the solar-biomass hybrid dryer. Carrot slices dried in solar-
biomass hybrid dryer pretreated with microwave blanching and brine
solution dipping have better quality characteristics than the untreated
samples.
AC KNOW LE DGME NT
The authors wish to acknowledge Dr. Sumedha Deshpande and
Dr. Manoj Kumar Tripathi for providing laboratory facilities at CIAE.
C ONFLICT OF INT E RE ST
No conflict of interest exists among the authors or between the
institutions.
OR CID
Debabandya Mohapatra http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8401-6063
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