Influence of cultivar, soak treatment and brine composition on the physico-chemical and sensory qualities of unpeeled whole canned tomatoes.

The effect of cultivar, soak treatment and brine composition on physico-chemical and sensory properties of unpeeled whole canned tomatoes was investigated with a view to understanding the influence of these process conditions on the canned product characteristics. Two tomato cultivars (Lycopersicon esculentum Var. Roma VF and Lycopersicon esculentum var. Ibadan Local) were used. The tomatoes were subjected to 10 min soaking in water or 1% (w/v) calcium chloride (CaCl ) solution before canning in brine of 2 different concentrations (0.1% NaCl, 0.1% NaCl + 1% CaCl , 2 0.1% NaCl + 1.5% CaCl ). The tomatoes were examined after 60 2 days of storage. The canned tomatoes were evaluated for drained weight, titratable acidity, lycopene, ascorbic acid, total solids and pH; and the brine was assessed for soluble solids, turbidity, volume and pH. Aroma, appearance, color and overall acceptability were assessed by a sensory panel using a 9-point hedonic scale. The study revealed that the physico-chemical properties of canned unpeeled whole tomatoes were mainly affected by the differences in brine concentration. The whole tomatoes canned in 0.1% NaCl brine had lower total solids, titratable acidity and ascorbic acid (3.00 g / 100 g, 0.24 g / 100 g and 6.70 mg / 100 g, respectively) when compared to the NaCl + 1% CaCl brine (4.88 2 g / 100 g, 0.32 g / 100 g and 12.50 mg / 100 g, respectively) and NaCl + 1.5% CaCl brine (4.38 g / 100 g, 0.33 g / 100 g and 11.16 2 mg / 100 g, respectively). Sensory scores did not vary (P> 0.05) for the different treatments.Keywords: Whole tomatoes, soak treatment, brine composition, physicochemical properties, sensory analysi

Drying Kinetics of Beef during the First Stage Drying of Kilishi

Kilishi refers to thin strips of meat that are first dried, infused in a slurry of spices and groundnut cake, re-dried and roasted over a glowing flame. This study  investigated the effect of drying conditions on the drying characteristics of meat slices for first stage Kilishi production. Thin strips of meat having 3 mm thickness were dried in a rotary dryer at 40, 50 and 60oC and at a constant velocity of 1.0 m/s. Nine thin-layer drying models were applied to predict the moisture ratio of the dried meat slices. Activation energy and effective diffusivity were also calculated. Drying was observed to take place only during the falling rate period and drying time decreased with increasing drying temperature. Of all models tested, the modified Henderson and Pabis model had the best fit at 40 and 60oC while the Wang and Singh model had the best fit at 50 oC drying temperature. Effective moisture diffusivity levels increased with increasing drying temperature and low activation energy was obtained. This research provides information on the low energy  requirement involved in first stage drying of meat for Kilishi production. The data obtained can be used in designing a dryer with optimal efficiency.Keywords: Drying characteristics, Kilishi, activation energy, moisture diffusivity, energy