Plasma pretreatment’s potential energy-saving and quality benefits: The case of blueberry drying

Blueberries are highly valued for their appealing flavor and health benefits. However, extending the shelf life of fresh blueberries, which are only available during certain seasons, beyond ten days is challenging, and transforming them into dried blueberries is one of the commonly used methods. Recognizing the time-consuming, energy cost, and negative impacts of traditional dehydration techniques on blueberries, new techniques like plasma pretreatment have been introduced as a preliminary step before the hot-air drying process to reduce damage caused by the thermal process on blueberries and preserve heat-sensitive components. Effects of plasma pretreatment on the drying process, structure changes, and chemical components of dried blueberry samples were studied by adjusting the distance between the treatment head and the surface of blueberries, as well as the treatment durations. The study demonstrated that plasma pretreatment notably enhanced the water migration, reducing the drying time for blueberries by up to 20 hours. Importantly, this treatment did not cause significant changes in the appearance and structure of dried blueberries but helped preserve more heat-sensitive chemical compounds such as vitamin C. Further research could explore the impact of plasma pretreatment on the sensory profiles of dried blueberries and other applications of the technique. Plasma treatment can be scaled up and introduced into the food industry.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Food Science & Human Nutrition

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2024

Author dc:creator

• Wang, Chenxin

Contributors dc:contributor

• Wang, Yi-Cheng
• Malvandi, Amir
• Cadwallader, Keith R

• Plasma
• Blueberry
• Drying

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2024 Chenxin Wang

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125835

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F125835