Abstract:

This study was conducted on the quality of tomato powders obtained from tomatoes dried n the sun (SD), microwave (MD) and in the oven at three different temperatures (55°C (OD 55), 65°C (OD 65) and 75°C (OD 75)). Drying processes lasted 20 days, 40 minutes, 8, 7 and 5 hours, respectively, for SD, MD, OD 55, OD 65 and OD 75. The dry matter (DM) rate in dried products was between 86.50 and 88.31%. Ash amounts of dried products were determined between 7.64 and 9.57%. At the end of the drying processes, pH values were between 4.40 and 4.64, and the difference was statistically significant (p<0.05). Water activity (aw) values in dried products were between 0.31 and 0.35. In addition, there was an increase in the amount of lycopene in all samples after the drying processes. The highest lycopene content was determined in the SD process at 387.83 mg/100 g DM, and the lowest amount was in the OD 65 at 349.59 mg/100 g DM. Regarding the total carotenoid matter, the highest loss was found in the SD process at 43%, and the most negligible loss was in MD at 0.05%. Moreover, the difference between the processes in the total phenolic matter was statistically significant (p<0.05). The lowest loss was 38% in the OD 55 process, and the highest was 46% in the MD process. The highest loss in the total flavonoid matter was in the MD sample at 57%, while the lowest was in the SD at 37%. Sensory low-temperature processes (SD 55 and SD 65) were quite good in colour and smell, burnt less, and ordinarily bitter than other processes.