The effect of ultrasound pretreatment on qualitative characteristics of peach thin slices (Alberta varety)

Peach, being one of the most important Iranian horticultural products, produce a considerable amount of post-harvest wastes. Product processing is one of the ways to reduce waste. For many years, the use of ultrasound has been considered as a novel pre-treatment in the drying of food. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of high-power ultrasound pre-treatment on the drying of peach and its quality. For this purpose, the ultrasound treatment (70 Watts and 28 kHz) was performed for 10, 20 and 60 minutes at two different temperatures of 65 and 105 C. The results showed that the application of ultrasound, as a pre-treatment before drying, decreases the drying time. In addition, it reduced the force required for shear and compression of the samples with no negative effect on the color of the samples. Furthermore, it was shown that the use of ultrasonic waves in drying of peach slices will reduce costs and energy consumption and increase the product quality.