Effect of Blanching and Drying Methods on Quality of Sweet Lemon (Citrus limetta Risso) Pomace Powder

Effects of different blanching pre-treatments and drying methods on quality of sweet lemon or mosambi (Citrus limetta Risso) pomace powder were investigated. Mosambi pomace was subjected to various blanching pre treatments i.e. hot water blanching (HB), citric acid blanching (CB) and potassium metabisulphite dipping (KMS). A control sample (untreated, UT) was kept for comparison. Pre-treated samples were dried by various drying methods i.e. convective tray drying (50°C, 60°C and 70°C), sun drying and solar drying. The dried samples were evaluated for its moisture content, drying time, crude fiber content, antioxidants, color attributes and overall acceptability. Effect of interaction of drying method and blanching pre-treatment was significant (p<0.05). The crude fiber content was higher for HB pretreated samples convectively dried at 60°C whereas maximum antioxidant were observed in sun dried samples. Overall, the HB pre-treatment followed by 60°C convective drying was found to be the best combination for retaining quality attributes of mosambi pomace.