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Apple cubes of 15 mm were dried naturally without adding any chemical preservative using various drying methods namely intermittent hot air–dehumidified air drying with cyclic temperature profile and step-up temperature profile, heat-pump-assisted (HP) drying, convective vacuum-microwave (C/VM) drying, and heat pump vacuum-microwave (HP/VM) drying. The drying kinetics of apple samples dehydrated by different methods was divided into characteristic drying periods and fitted with empirical models, which gave high value of determination coefficient. The application of C/VM in drying of fruits gave the shortest drying time compared to other drying methods (about 50 % of the total drying time). The drying time was affected by effective diffusivity ranging from 3.522 × 10−8 to 1.431 × 10−6 m2/min depending on the drying technique used. It was found that combined drying which apply vacuum microwave (C/VM, HP/VM) gave the lowest values in hardness and chewiness. In addition, HP/VM drying gave the highest retained total polyphenol content, antioxidant activity, and the best appearance quality.

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of microwave power during the vacuum-microwave drying (VMD) on sour cherries in terms of drying kinetics, includ- ing the temperature profile of dried material, as well as on some quality factors of the finished product including phenolic compounds, antioxidant capacity, and color. The content of phenolic compounds, antioxidant activity, and color change were used as quality indicators of dried sour cherries. Sour cherries were dehydrated by convective drying (CD) at tem- peratures of 50 °C, 60 °C, and 70 °C and by VMD at the initial microwave power of 240 W, 360 W, and 480 W reduced to 240 W and 120 W in order to avoid a rapid increase in temperature at the critical moisture content of ca. 1 kg/kg dry mass. Control samples were prepared by freeze drying (FD). The increase in air temperature during CD as well as the increase in material temperature during VMD deteriorated dried product quality in terms of the content of phenolic compounds, antioxidant activity, and color, which was consis- tent with anthocyanins content. However, VMD turned out to be much better than CD and competitive to FD. The best quality of the dried product and its more attractive color were achieved at VMD at 480 W followed by drying at microwave power reduced to 120 W, which corresponds to anthocyanins content. In addition, the drying process had a positive impact on contents of quercetin and keampferol derivatives. Dried sour cherries have a long shelf life and therefore may be a fine alternative to fresh fruit all year round.