Table 8. Effects of pretreatments on mean sensory scores of onion shreds dried under different drying conditions.
| Colour | Texture | Flavour | Taste | Overall acceptability |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fresh sample | 8.71±0.31 | 8.51±0.25 | 8.86±0.19 | 8.62±0.13 | 8.82±0.23 |
| Hot air drying at 60 °C | |||||
| Untreated | 7.33±0.15 | 8.02±0.13 | 7.16±0.23 | 7.04±0.57 | 7.34±0.27 |
| Salt-treated | 7.43±0.35 | 7.84±0.22 | 6.74±0.26 | 6.82±0.37 | 7.13±0.19 |
| Sulphited | 7.72±0.29 | 7.73±0.39 | 6.82±0.31 | 6.84±0.15 | 7.52±0.34 |
| Heat pump drying at 50 °C | |||||
| Untreated | 8.21±0.17 | 8.41±0.19 | 7.51±0.32 | 7.21±0.37 | 7.73±0.51 |
| Salt-treated | 8.34±0.45 | 8.28±0.12 | 7.14±0.35 | 6.92±0.23 | 7.51±0.36 |
| Sulphited | 8.53±0.39 | 8.13±0.23 | 7.26±0.25 | 7.04±0.16 | 8.02±0.34 |
| Microwave-assisted drying at 240 W and 50 °C | |||||
| Untreated | 6.82±0.31 | 8.04±0.15 | 7.25±0.25 | 7.36±0.13 | 7.42±0.29 |
| Salt-treated | 6.91±0.12 | 7.86±0.17 | 6.91±0.33 | 7.25±0.16 | 7.24±0.27 |
| Sulphited | 7.14±0.34 | 7.64±0.24 | 7.03±0.34 | 7.11±0.21 | 7.63±0.34 |