Effect of processing parameters on physico-chemical and culinary quality of dried carrot slices.

The investigation was carried out to evaluate the carrot (Daucus carota) cultivars, to optimize the pre-treatments, time and temperature combination for drying carrot slices and to assess the suitability of the dried product for culinary preparations. Among the 4 cultivars, ('PC-34', 'Sel-21', 'Ambala Local' and 'Nantes') the last one showed the best physico-chemical characteristics for dehydration. The dried carrot slices with highly desirable physico-chemical characteristics could be prepared from 4.5 mm thick slices, blanched in water at 95 °C for 4 min followed by 2 stage phase drying at 90 ± 5 °C for 2 h and at 60 ± 5 °C for 7 h in a cross-flow hot air cabinet dryer. Dipping slices in 6% potassium metabisulphite solution prior to drying improved the rehydration ratio, colour, retention of ascorbic acid and carotenoids content of dried slices. The soup and curried product prepared from dried slices had highly acceptable sensory quality with 8.5 and 8.2 scores, respectively on a 9-point Hedonic scale.