Modern drying techniques in fruits and vegetables to overcome postharvest losses: A review

Fresh fruits and vegetables have higher moisture contents and deteriorate over a short period of time if not handled appropriately. Available storage technologies such as refrigeration and controlled atmospheres are expensive as these need continuous energy for system operation throughout the whole supply chain. So, the use of drying techniques is being encouraged as it reduces the postharvest losses and provides easiness in storage, transport, and ensures product availability round the year. Drying of fruits and vegetables through conventional approaches such as sun or open-air drying found a slow process and may lead to the inferior quality product due to contamination. Various advanced drying techniques such as solar, microwave, vacuum, infrared, freeze, oven drying, and different hybrid drying technologies have been developed around the globe as being successfully used for various fruits and vegetables. This paper mainly focuses to review crop-specific operations, its impact on quality, efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and nutrient retention ability. Practical applications Dried products are broadly used by the industries related to confectionery, bakery, and sweet and distilling industries in the development of versatile by-products including sauces, teas, puddings, garnishments, and food supplements for infants as well as children. Fruits and vegetables can be dried with suitable retention of nutrients and health-promoting compounds. Crop-specific drying technologies have been optimized for the quality conservation of dehydrated products. Several novel drying techniques discussed in this review could be helpful to researchers and relevant industry stakeholders for application and improvement.