Novel cold plasma functionalized water pretreatment for improving drying performance and physicochemical properties of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) fruits during infrared-accelerated pulsed vacuum drying

The effect of plasma functionalized water (PW) pretreatment and influencing factors including treatment time and voltage were investigated on the drying kinetics, nutrition and sensory properties of tomato slices during infrared-accelerated pulsed vacuum drying (IR-PVD). Results revealed that PW pretreatment caused disruptions in tomato cellular structure that were greater with increasing treatment time and voltage, due to strong acidification and etching from reactive species in PW. These disruptions accelerated the removal of moisture during IR-PVD to shorten drying time by 25%, and improve visual appearance, rehydration, porosity, phenols and flavonoids, soluble solids, lycopene, ascorbic acid, but reduced chewiness, gumminess and hardness properties. Overall, the findings revealed the propitious potentials of PW and indicated the significant effects of PW influencing factors for accelerating drying characteristics and increasing the functional and nutrition properties of tomato slices during IR-PVD, providing a theoretical basis for developing novel energy-saving drying approaches.