Effect of microwave-vacuum drying on the physicochemical properties of a functional tomato snack bar.

Both texture and FTIR spectroscopy results indicated that there was a network formation due to the contribution of protein and pectin; however, the type of interaction was highly dependent on the drying mechanism. NMR relaxometry data showed that microwave-vacuum-dried samples had a more uniform water distribution. Besides its time and energy efficiency, microwave-vacuum drying improved the color and textural properties of tomato snack bars compared to conventionally dried ones. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.