Apple Rings as a Model for Fruit Drying Behavior: Effects of Surfactant and Reduced Osmolality Reveal Biological Mechanisms

Drying behavior at 60 °C was studied in uniform rings of apple fruit parenchyma after vacuum infiltration of fluids with different osmolality and surface tension. All infiltrations gave a halved final porosity. Both reduced surface tension and reduced osmolality caused tissue destruction shown as darker visual color. Addition of surfactant resulted in a higher drying rate on a surface area basis corresponding to 15% more water lost after 2 h. The results indicate that biological mechanisms related to function and structure of living tissue are important for drying behavior. The apple ring model is suitable for further studies of biological and other types of drying behavior in relation to the tissue organization.