Physicochemical properties and sensory acceptability of beetroot chips pre-treated by osmotic dehydration and ultrasound

Abstract Red beet (or beetroot) is highly nutritious and can be preserved by drying, in order to avoid wastage, take advantage of crop surpluses, add value during the off-season. The objective this study was evaluate effects osmotic dehydration (OD) ultrasound (US) pre-treatments on nutritional quality sensory characteristics dried beetroot chips. kinetics moisture loss OD US were predicted fitting experimental data with thin-layer models. physicochemical parameters (moisture, protein, lipid, carbohydrate, energy, ash, sodium nitrate) properties (affective preference-ordering acceptance test) determined. Correlations between treatments acceptability evaluated consumer’s perceptions performed applying unsupervised chemometric techniques (Principal Component Analysis (PCA) Hierarchical Cluster (HCA)). two-term exponential model provided best fit for drying data. treatment promoted a higher rate lower ash energy values, while process resulted values. Multivariate analysis revealed that improved more efficient pre-treatment producing chips due its leads significant reduction time intermediate level preference.