PHENOLICS AND QUALITY OF SOLAR CABINET DRIED PERSIMMON DURING STORAGE

A solar drying process for persimmon (Diospyros kaki) was developed. T he ripened but hard fruits were sliced (2.5-3.0 mm) and sulphited (0.2 % SO2, 3 min) before drying in a solar cabinet dryer. It took about 10 hours for the samples to reach a moisture content of 15-16%. The mois ture content of the dried fruit ranged from 14.3 to 16.8% after storin g for 6 months at ambient temperature (18 degrees-30 degrees C). The a scorbic acid content of the dried fruit ranged from 116.0 - 126.0 mg/1 00 g. A significant (P<0.05) reduction in this vitamin was recorded af ter 6 months of storage with values ranging from 102 to 109 mg/100 g. Phenolic compounds such as sinapine, catechin, anthocyanidin, leucoant hocyanidin and total phenols which impart astringency showed a decreas ing trend during storage. Although all the dried samples were complete ly non-astringent, on sensory evaluation, the sulphited samples were r ated higher (7.8) than control samples (6.1) for overall acceptability scores.