4. Drying

4.1 Thermal drying

As mentioned , drying involves removing water from a product by evaporation. The term "dried fruit" refers to fruit that has been partially dehydrated (i.e. not absolutely dry) to enable it to be preserved over a long period, and is made from fruit whose dry matter does not exceed 30% of its wet weight, and which cannot dehydrate naturally without specific treatment (unlike "dried fruit" such as almonds).

• During the unitary drying stage, the fruit (mainly plums, apples, grapes, apricots, cherries, strawberries, bananas, pineapples, mangoes, etc.) undergoes ..:

  • a rise in temperature (inducing chemical reactions such as Maillard, which cause browning and...