Comparative Experiment on Hot-Air and Microwave-Vacuum Drying and Puffing of Blue Honeysuckle Snack.

A comparative drying experiment between the hot-air and microwave-vacuum method of blue honeysuckle slice has been completed. In hot-air drying, the temperature was 50°C when the velocity of air stream was kept at 0.5 m/s. In microwave-vacuum puffing, the microwave power and vacuum pressure were set at 2.68kW and 82 kPa, respectively. Comparing to the quality indexes viz. texture characteristics (hardness and crispness), color, cross-section structure and vitamin C content of blue honeysuckle snack, it was known that hardness of blue honeysuckle snack decreased by 3936g, crispness increased by 3, value of lightness, redness and yellowness increased by 2.09, 0.2, 0.27, respectively, and the retention rate of VC content increased by 9.67% using microwave-vacuum puffing than that using hot-air drying. Therefore, microwave-vacuum technique is a potential method to puff blue honeysuckle slices with high quality attributes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]