The Influence of Drying Temperature to The Physicochemical, Thermal and Rheological Characteristics of Dried Tomato Powder

Tomatoes are both nutritious and inexpensive, but due to their high moisture content, they are more readily damaged. Converting tomatoes into powder is a useful option for reducing post-harvest losses and enhancing tomatoes shelf life. Foam mat drying is a cost-effective way of drying tomatoes while maintaining quality. In this study, we observed into the physicochemical, thermal, and rheological characteristics of tomato powder as influenced by different temperatures for drying (50°C, 60°C, 70°C, 80°C). The result observed that moisture content, water activity (aw), hygroscopicity, water absorption index (WAI) and color decreased, however water solubility index (WSI) tendency to rise as drying temperature increased. Thermal research revealed that raising the drying temperature reduced the weight loss of tomato powder. The peak temperature shifted to a higher temperature as the drying temperature increased. For the rheological behavior, different drying temperature influenced on the viscosity and shear stress of tomato powder. A drying temperature of 70°C was discovered to be the optimal treatment for producing tomato powder with the following characteristics: moisture content (4.65%), aw (0.24), hygroscopicity (4.28%), WSI (79.62%), WAI (252.77%), L value (53.45), a value (15.84), and b value (8.77)