Drying of mangoes (Mangifera indica L.) applying pulsed UV light as pretreatment

High-intensity pulsed UV light is a non-thermal treatment used in the sanitization of fruits. As a secondary effect to sanitization, the energy of the pulses is absorbed by the fruit and converted into internal energy, which results in partial evaporation of the water of the fruit. In this work, we have applied high-intensity pulsed UV light as a pretreatment for convective air-drying evaluating its advantages and disadvantages on the drying process and nutritional quality of the dried product. Mangoes were subjected to pulses of UV light and dried in a convective oven-drier. The pulsed UV light pretreatment reduced the water content in the samples but did not affect the kinetics or apparent water diffusivity of the subsequent drying process. The concentration of vitamin C and carotenoids in dried mangoes subjected to fluences between 3.6 and 10.8J/cm(2) in the pretreatment were between 10 and 40% higher than the untreated dried mango. The concentration of vitamins B1, B3 and B5 increased by 10 to 25% in dried mangoes subjected to fluences between 3.6 and 7.2 J/cm(2), in comparison with the untreated dried mango. Vitamin B6 was highly affected by pulsed UV light decreasing by 40 to 50% in the pretreated mangoes. (C) 2019 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.