Physico-chemical and microstructural changes during the drying of persimmons with different disorders. Consumer acceptance of dried slices as a criterion to valorise discards

In this study, consumer acceptance of the final product is used as a criterion to evaluate the viability of valorising persimmons by obtaining dried slices from fruit that manifest different disorders: skin damage and malformations detected at harvest, and flesh browning and chilling injury manifested in astringent and non-astringent fruit during the postharvest period. During drying, slices shrunk and underwent colour changes linked with browning. In microstructural terms, the drying process was associated mainly with cell wall degradation in parenchyma tissue and cell shrinkage. Such changes were less marked in the dried slices obtained from the astringent fruit affected by chilling injury, which was linked with a higher soluble tannins content at the beginning of the dehydration process and resulted in more appealing slices. These slices completely lost their astringency during drying. The sensory study performed with 96 consumers showed that the obtaining dried persimmon slices is a promising way to valorise fruit discarded at harvest due to in-field damage and those discarded after storage due to chilling injury symptoms. Consumers liked these samples and reported 60% and 70% purchase intention, respectively. It is necessary to investigate other alternatives to valorise discards from fruit affected by flesh browning.