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Effect of Modified Solar Dryers on Colorimetric and Physicochemical Properties of Pumpkin Flower (Cucurbita maxima)

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Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the solar dryers' cover material effects on the colorimetric and physicochemical properties of pumpkin flowers (Cucurbita maxima). A direct cabinet solar dryer was designed using three cover types: polycarbonate, polyethylene, and aluminum with selective surface (titanium oxide coating). A unifactorial experimental design with three levels was adopted. Pumpkin flower stability was assured by reducing the initial moisture content (95.22%) and water activity (0.989) to 3.15% and 0.276 in the polycarbonate dryer, to 3.03% and 0.279 in the selective surface dryer, and 5.19% and 0.364 in the polyethylene dryer. The drying kinetics showed that the drying time needed to achieve the moisture equilibrium was 480, 540, and 720 min in the respective dryers, depending on the ambient conditions. The initial pumpkin flower hue angle was 76.52°; however, this value decreased to 74.81, 69.52, and 70.23° in the dryers with polycarbonate, polyethylene, and the selective surface respectively; this behavior indicates a pumpkin flower tendency to orange color. The dryer with the selective surface obtained the best properties in pumpkin flowers. The pumpkin flower showed an initial total soluble solid of 1.5°Brix increased to 30°Brix in the polycarbonate and polyethylene dryers and 39°Brix in the selective dryer. The titanium oxide dryer observed an increment in ascorbic acid content from 3.5 to 8.806 mg/100 g, whereas 6.45 and 5.87 mg/100 g in the polycarbonate and polyethylene dryer, respectively.

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Data Availability

Data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

To Investigadores for México CONACYT and the solar food drying laboratory IER-UNAM throughout the project PAPIIT IN103021 solar drying of agricultural products and CONACyT project 319188 Centro Comunitario para el Deshidratado Solar de Productos Agropecuarios de Pequeños Productores Indígenas en Hueyapan, Morelos

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Sistemas Energéticos, Instituto de Energías Renovables-UNAM, Temixco, Morelos, México

    Octavio García-Valladares, Ana María Lucho-Gómez, Erandi Anaís Montiel-Baltazar, Marian Castañeda-Vázquez & Alfredo Domínguez-Niño

  2. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Ingeniería de Alimentos, Universidad Veracruzana, Orizaba, Veracruz, México

    César Antonio Ortiz-Sánchez

  3. Departamento de Agua Y Energía, Centro Universitario de Tonalá, Universidad de Guadalajara, Tonalá, Jalisco, México

    Beatriz Castillo-Téllez

  4. División de Estudios de Posgrado E Investigación, Instituto Tecnológico de Orizaba, Orizaba, Veracruz, México

    Guadalupe Luna-Solano

  5. Dirección Adjunta de Desarrollo Científico, Consejo Nacional de Ciencia Y Tecnología-Cátedra CONACYT, Mexico City, Mexico

    Alfredo Domínguez-Niño

Authors
  1. Octavio García-Valladares
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  2. Ana María Lucho-Gómez
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  5. César Antonio Ortiz-Sánchez
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  6. Beatriz Castillo-Téllez
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  7. Guadalupe Luna-Solano
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  8. Alfredo Domínguez-Niño
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Contributions

O. García-Valladares: Conceptualization, writing, review and editing; A.M. Lucho-Gómez: Experimentation, E.A. Montiel-Baltazar: Investigation, M. Castañeda-Vazquez: Investigation; C.A. Ortiz-Sánchez: Experimentation, investigation; B. Castillo-Téllez: Validation, formal analysis; G. Luna-Solano: Methodology, A. Domínguez-Niño: Writing, review and editing.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Beatriz Castillo-Téllez or Alfredo Domínguez-Niño.

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García-Valladares, O., Lucho-Gómez, A.M., Montiel-Baltazar, E.A. et al. Effect of Modified Solar Dryers on Colorimetric and Physicochemical Properties of Pumpkin Flower (Cucurbita maxima). Plant Foods Hum Nutr 78, 139–145 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11130-022-01032-8

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