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In this study, different fiber sources such as inulin, peas and carrots were used to produce fruit snacks enriched with dietary fiber. The effect of these fiber sources on the proximate composition, pH, titratable acidity, water activity, color, texture, total phenolic content, microbial load, and sensory acceptability of fruit snacks was determined. Results showed that fruit snacks enriched with inulin (5.0%) had the highest content of total dietary fiber while snacks enriched with carrot fiber (5.0%) had the highest total phenolic content. The moisture content of fruit snacks with different fibers decreased in comparison to control snacks as fiber was added into their formulation. Moreover, the water activity values of fruit snacks (aw) were lower than 0.7, indicating a low risk for bacterial growth and affirming a favorable shelf life. Compared to control snacks, increasing the dietary fiber addition from 2.5 to 5.0% significantly increased the hardness, gumminess and chewiness values of fruit snacks. The microbiological analysis of fruit snacks indicated that snacks were safe. Additionally, results showed that fruit snacks (2.5%) enriched with inulin and pea fiber were found to have higher sensory acceptability scores than others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrical treatments, which are among the nonthermal preservation technologies, have been gaining importance with the changes in the preferences of consumers who want high quality foods. In this study, electroplasmolysis (EP) as a pretreatment and microwave (MW) heating as an alternative to traditional heating were used in the production of red pepper puree in order to increase the puree yield and improve the quality characteristics of the puree. The red pepper purees were treated by EP, conventional heating (CH) as the control and also combinations of treatments (EP + MW, EP + CH). The EP application was optimized using response surface methodology. The optimum conditions were found as a voltage gradient of 143 V/cm and a treatment time of 60 s. At this optimum point, the yield was found to be 76.3%. In the combination of the EP and MW groups, the yield increased by 7.56% compared with the control group. The pectin and vitamin C contents increased after the pretreatments when compared to the control group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]