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ABSTRACT Docynia delavayi (Franch.) Schneid, an evergreen arbor in Rosaceae family, is rich in nutrients and used for both edible and medicinal purposes. Herein, varying drying techniques, like hot air drying (AD), heat pump variable temperature drying (VHP), vacuum freeze drying (FD) and vacuum freeze coupled to hot air drying (FD-AD), have been employed for preparing dried products of D. delavayi . The results indicated that VHP required the shortest drying time, while FD and FD-AD were closest in color to the fresh fruit and possessed a porous structure with strong rehydration ability. VHP and FD-AD had higher total polyphenol and flavonoid contents with better antioxidant capacities compared to AD and FD. Furthermore, the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of varying drying techniques have been recognized via headspace solid-phase microextraction combined to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, which revealed that the quantities and relative contents of VOCs in D. delavayi varied across different drying methods, giving them different odors. A comprehensive assessment of characteristics, quality and VOCs suggested that FD-AD is the most appropriate drying approach for D. delavayi .
Xia et al. (Wed,) studied this question.