The effect of drying method on the qualitative and microbial properties of barberry leather

The aim of this study was to compare the vacuum production of barberry (Berberis vulgaris)  leather with traditional heating methods. Three formulas with different levels of barberry (47, 72 and 92%) were prepared and their quality properties were investigated. The results showed that pH decreased with increasing the percentage of barberry puree in the formulation. With increasing the percentage of barberry puree in the formulation, the amount of elongation and tensile strength increased. Drying method did not show a significant effect on elongation and tensile strength (p> 0.05). In terms of sensory properties, samples containing 72% of barberry received the highest flavour score. With increasing percentage of barberry puree in the formulation, odor, color and texture scores increased and the samples dried by vacuum method had more odor, color and texture scores than samples dried in the traditional method. The type of drying method had not a significant effect on texture score of leather samples (p> 0.05). With increasing the percentage of barberry puree in leather formulation, the amount of total phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity increased in both drying methods. With increasing storage period, the number of mold and yeast and bacteria increased. At the end of the storage period, the lowest total microbial count was observed in samples containing 92% of dried barberry puree under vacuum and the highest count of mold and yeast in samples containing 47% of dried barberry puree with traditional method was observed.