Role of cold plasma pre-treatment in enhancing the drying of ‘Keitt’ mango

Mango (Mangifera indica L.) is a popular tropical fruit consumed throughout the world. However, when untreated before storage, the fruit undergoes progressive undesired changes, which result in postharvest losses. A management technique for reducing the above-mentioned undesired changes is to dehydrate the fruit by hot air drying, which reduces the water activity in the fruit, thereby avoiding the deteriorating process and extending the shelf life. Consequently, this study aimed to evaluate the influence of cold plasma pre-treatment prior hot air (at 60°C) drying on the drying kinetics of dried ‘Keitt’ mango slices. The drying was performed in a house-designed dehydrator with an airflow rate of 49.50 Hz. Results showed a continuous decrease in the moisture ratio of dried mango slices over drying time in all the samples until equilibrium after 10 hours. Results indicates that cold plasma has a promising potential for use as a pretreatment method in the drying of mango as it enhances the drying. Keywords: Convective drying, dehydration, hot air, Mangifera indica L., moisture content