Effect of microwave power on the drying characteristics of persimmon slices
As shown in Fig.1, the drying curve of persimmon slices was continuous and smooth, showing an exponential downward trend. In addition, the drying time of persimmon slices was shortened with the increase of microwave power. When the dry basis moisture rate of persimmon slices was less than or equal to 35%, the microwave power was 280, 350, 420, 490, and 560 W, and the drying time was 54, 42, 33, 30, and 24 min, respectively. It was reported that a researcher once peeled and pitted Gongcheng persimmons, divided them into 4-6 pieces, and backed them in a high-medium-low interval with varying temperature. The drying process lasted for 84 h until the persimmon moisture rate was close to 30% (Lin, 2019). In addition, some scholars conducted hot air drying after peeling Mopan persimmon until the moisture rate was below 35%, which took about 92 h (Yang et al., 2015). These studies support the fact that the moisture content of dried persimmon products meets the requirements of China’s national standard (Yang et al., 2015). Moreover, IMD can greatly shorten the drying time of persimmon to 24~54 min because the water molecules in persimmon slices are polar molecules. Under the action of the microwave, the polar molecules in persimmon slices move at a high frequency, which increases the temperature of persimmon slices and generates a lot of heat, so that the water in persimmon slices evaporates rapidly.
Fig. 2 presents the three stages of the drying process of persimmon slices under different microwave powers; acceleration, constant speed, and deceleration. Similar results were reported in the study of IMD of camellia oleifera seeds and ginkgo fruits (Zhang et al., 2013; Huang et al., 2020). Microwave power has a great influence on the drying rate of persimmon slices. As the microwave power increased, the microwave energy absorbed by persimmon slices increased, and the drying rate increased rapidly. Moreover, the higher drying rate also resulted in a shorter drying time. Under microwave power of 280, 350, 420, 490, and 560 W, the maximum drying rates were 0.11, 0.14, 0.18, 0.21, and 0.23 g/(g*min), respectively. When the dry base moisture content of persimmon was less than 35%, the drying rates were 0.05, 0.05, 0.07, 0.08, and 0.10 g/(g*min). As observed in the experiment, the drying rate decreased with the decrease in dry base moisture content under different microwave power. This was due to the loss of water in the material and the weakening of microwave energy absorption and utilization, resulting in a decrease in the drying rate. When microwave power was 280 W and 350 W, the drying rate increased slowly in the speed-up stage, and the drying rate fluctuated obviously in the constant speed stage. Therefore, it was speculated that the intermittent stage might have alleviated the continuous rise of temperature and made the overall water distribution of persimmon slices more uniform. On a dry basis moisture rate, the moisture critical points of 280 W and 350 W were 157.56% and 144.14%, respectively. The drying rate then began to decrease slowly in the speed reduction stage and the dried persimmon slices became golden. When the microwave power was 420 W and 490 W, the drying rate fluctuation in the constant speed stage was not obvious. With the increase of microwave power, the drying temperature of persimmon slices also increased, so the continuous increase of mitigation temperature in the intermittent stage was slow. The critical points of water content at 420 W and 490 W were 114.01% and 80.28% on a dry basis moisture rate, respectively. The drying rate decreased, the drying time was slightly longer, and the color of persimmon slices was dark yellow. Dramatically, the microwave power of 490 W had a low moisture critical point, which was conducive to improving the quality of the dried products (Duan, 2018). When the microwave power was 560 W, after the peak value was quickly reached in the speed-up stage, there was a short constant speed stage. The critical point of water content was 106.53% on a dry basis moisture rate. After the drying rate decreased, the drying time was significantly shortened, and the persimmon slices were yellowish-brown and dark.
Effect of microwave power on the soluble sugar content of persimmon slices
Soluble sugar is the main component of fruit taste, so it has a vital impact on fruit flavor quality (Lv et al., 2009). As shown in Fig. 3, soluble sugar content increased with the increase of microwave power from 34.68% at 280 W to 41.32% at 560 W. This may be due to the consumption of soluble sugar by tissue respiration. Moreover, the lower the microwave power and longer the drying time, the greater the consumption of soluble sugar (Y. Q. Zhang et al., 1998). Therefore, the higher the microwave power, the higher the consumption of soluble sugar. It could also be that high microwave power leads to a higher drying temperature and increased soluble sugar content. Several researchers reported that a high temperature has caused cell membrane damage, decreased water holding capacity of cells, and promoted the degradation of polysaccharides and other macromolecules, resulting in the increase of soluble sugar content (Pei et al., 2014).
Effect of microwave power on the soluble protein content of persimmon slices
As can be seen from Fig. 4, with the increase of microwave power, soluble protein content presents a clear downward trend from 8.445 g/L at 280 W to 3.566 g/L at 560 W. Some studies have shown that soluble protein decomposes easily during drying and heating, and microwave radiation can cause changes in the structure and some physical and chemical properties of soluble protein (Cheng et al., 2018). With the increase of microwave power, the thermal effect and polarization effect of microwaves exacerbated the destruction of the soluble protein structure, resulting in the decrease of soluble protein content. Moreover, some studies have shown that soluble protein and tannin can be stable complexes by hydrogen-bonded and hydrophobic (Lv et al., 2009). Under the condition of high microwave power, tannin content was higher, so the reaction consumed more soluble protein and the soluble protein content decreased.
Effect of microwave power on the tannin content of persimmon slices
Tannin, with astringency, is the main component of persimmon and its products (Lv et al., 2009). According to the different solubility of persimmon tannins in alcohol, it can be divided into soluble and insoluble tannins (Wang et al., 2019). As shown in Fig. 5, with the increase of microwave power, soluble tannin content showed an upward trend, while insoluble tannin content increased slightly. The soluble tannin content increased from 2.26 mgGAE/g at 280 W to 3.67 mgGAE/g at 560 W. Increasing microwave power can accelerate the increase of soluble tannin content and make persimmon slices produce astringency. The increase in soluble tannin content might be caused by the release of phenolic compounds due to the damage of cell tissue caused by microwave drying (Chen, 2019). It may also be that the moisture content decreased rapidly when heated under high microwave power, resulting in the decrease of the activity of the enzyme promoting the combination of acetaldehyde and soluble tannin (Chung et al., 2015). Therefore, the content of soluble tannin showed an upward trend. Simultaneously, it was also noticed that insoluble tannin content increased slightly with the increase of microwave power, but that the change was not obvious. The insoluble tannin content at 560 W was the highest, which was 0.50 mg(+)-catechin/g. Therefore, it was speculated that some soluble tannins could be combined with pectin to form tannin pectin gel, and also to form insoluble tannins with cell debris (Chen et al., 2019).
Effect of microwave power on the contents of vitamin C and vitamin E in persimmon slices
Vitamins play an important role in maintaining normal physiological functions of the human body. Vitamin C and vitamin E have antioxidant effects, which can enhance immunity and delay aging (Karatas & Kamışlı, 2007). Fig. 6 shows the relationship between different microwave power levels and the vitamin C and vitamin E contents of persimmon slices. Vitamin C is unstable during heat treatment (Nalawade et al., 2018). However, in this experiment, the content of vitamin C increased with the increase of microwave power, from 24.3 mg/100g at 280 W to 33.9 mg/100g at 560 W, which is consistent with the results of previous studies (Pan, 2019; Li et al., 2021). This is due to the drying at high temperature for a short time, which is more beneficial to the preservation of vitamin C. With the increase of microwave power, the drying temperature increases, the drying time is significantly shortened, and the content of vitamin C in high-temperature rapid drying is higher than that in low-temperature slow drying (Zeng et al., 2014). Some studies have shown that the higher the intensity of microwave radiation, the faster the degradation of vitamin E (Zhang et al., 2000), which is similar to the results of this study where vitamin E content decreased from 8.7943 ug/g at 280 W to 4.7537 ug/g at 560 W. The effect of the microwave adds to the degradation of the molecular structure of vitamin E (Lin, 2012). Meanwhile, the thermal effect of the microwave could make the degradation reaction of saturated fatty acids and the oxidation reaction of unsaturated fatty acids in persimmon slices occur simultaneously, increasing the content of free radicals and peroxides. The hydroxyl group on the benzene ring in the vitamin E molecule then reacted with it to form an ester, which lost its antioxidant function (Zhang et al., 1998), and finally resulted in a decrease of vitamin E content.
Effect of microwave power on the ash content of persimmon slices
Ash content is the sum of all kinds of mineral elements and oxides contained in persimmon. As the microwave power increased, ash content increased slightly, from 1.23% at 280 W to 1.42 % at 560 W, as shown in Fig. 7. It has been reported that after freeze-drying, vacuum oven drying, and oven drying of Turkish persimmons, some scholars obtained dry products with very close ash content and no significant change, which were 1.86%, 1.88%, and 1.88%, respectively (Karaman et al., 2014). The ash content of dried persimmon products obtained in this study is lower than that of dried persimmon products in Turkey, which may have been caused by the use of different varieties and drying methods. Previous results also showed that the ash content increased with the increase of microwave power (Fang et al., 2011). This may be that under the treatment of high microwave power and high drying temperature, the organic matter in the persimmon slice is decomposed, a large amount of organic carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and other elements are lost, while inorganic components such as oxide, carbonate, and silicate remain in the persimmon slice structure, increasing ash content (Yang, 2018).
Results analysis of comprehensive scoring
Table 1 Comprehensive scoring results under different microwave power
Microwave power(W)
|
280
|
350
|
420
|
490
|
560
|
Overall score value
|
1.07
|
1.68
|
2.32
|
3.06
|
3.00
|
As can be seen from Table 1, the comprehensive score was highest when the microwave power was 490 W. The drying time, soluble sugar, soluble protein, soluble tannin, insoluble tannin, vitamin C, vitamin E, and ash content were 30 min, 40.17%, 6.193 g/L, 2.96 mgGAE/g, 0.39 mg(+)-Catechin/g, 30.4 mg/100g, 7.5342 ug/g, and 1.4 %, respectively. Some scholars have studied the effect of hot air drying temperature on the quality of persimmon products. The optimal drying temperature was 55 ℃, and the drying time, final moisture content, and total sugar content were 92h, 33.71%, and 4.83%, respectively (Yang et al., 2015). The effects of solar drying temperature and slice thickness on the vitamin C of dried persimmon products have also been studied in Pakistan. When the drying temperature was 45 ℃ and the slice thickness was 1.5cm, the maximum content of vitamin C was 2.08 mg/100g, the drying time was 18h and the moisture content was less than 10% (Hanif et al., 2015). Compared with hot air and solar drying, IMD can significantly shorten the drying time, improve the drying efficiency and improve the nutritional quality of dried persimmon.