Study on the Possibility of Eliminating Sulfuring Process in the Production of Dried Apricots

The rate of agricultural and horticultural waste is high in Iran, and one of the best preventive methods is to convert fruits and crops to the products which have long shelf life and high quality. Traditionally apricots are dried in front of sun with excessive sulfuring which is proved to be harmful for human. In the current study apricots were dried by either solar tunnel dryer or conventional sun drying. Ascorbic and citric acids with the concentrations of 0.3 and 0.5 percent and 3 and 5 minutes of dipping were used as a replacement of SO2. After drying the samples were analyzed for vitamin C, moisture and soluble solids content, pH and firmness. The results were analyzed with completely randomized design based on factorial test. Finally, the solar dryer and ascorbic acid with concentration of 0.3% and 3 minutes of dipping were preferred for producing dried apricots.