LWT - Food Science and Technology 75 (2017) 202e209

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LWT - Food Science and Technology

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Effects of solar drying along with air recycling system on

physicochemical and sensory properties of dehydrated pistachio nuts
Mohsen Mokhtarian a, *, Hamid Tavakolipour b, Ahmad Kalbasi Ashtari c
a
Young Researchers and Elite Club, Sabzevar Branch, Islamic Azad University, Sabzevar, Iran
b
Department of Food Science and Technology, Sabzevar Branch, Islamic Azad University, Sabzevar, Iran
c
Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Agricultural Technology and Engineering, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Fresh pistachio was dehydrated with shade drying, sun drying, solar drying (without and with air
Received 6 September 2015 recycling) systems (Methods I, II, III and IV). Then their impacts were studied on drying time, physical
Received in revised form properties and also organoleptic criterions (shell appearance, color, roasted flavor, finger releasing
25 August 2016
kernel, sweetness, shell splitting and overall palatability) of dehydrated pistachio. The ambient-air
Accepted 26 August 2016
Available online 27 August 2016
temperature rise and drying time of pistachio in Methods I, II, III and IV reached to 1, 1, 14, & 17
C;
and 48, 19, 16, & 13 h, respectively. While the trends of drying rates in all methods were completely
quadratic (R2 ¼ 0.99), Method IV had the lowest shrinkage and the highest drying rate, shell splitting
Keywords:
Pistacia vera L.
(70% more than Method I), bulk density and kernel density in comparison with other Methods. Whereas
Solar the pistachio's color properties (a, b and L), changed significantly when dried with Methods of I, II and III,
Air recycling the “L”, and “a” values of pistachio dried with Method IV had no significant difference with those dried
Shell splitting with Method I (having the best color properties). The pistachio dried with Method IV (had the best
Shrinkage sweetness and roasting flavor) in comparison with those dried with other methods because of higher
drying rate.
© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Among different processing stages of this valuable crop after

Pistachios (Pistacia vera L.) are cultivated mainly in Iran, Turkey,
and USA and dried after harvest to make tasty nuts. According to
FAO statistics (Food & Agriculture Organization, 2012), Iran pro-
duced about 500,000 MT of pistachio nut (approximately 45% of the
world's production) in 2012, which is important for its national
economy. Although pistachio nuts are produced mainly for snack
consumption, its kernels are utilized as a major or minor ingredient
in making butter, cake, pastry, ice cream and Persian Candies (in
names of Gaz, Baghlava, Ghotab, …etc) (Tavakolipour, Mokhtarian,
& Kalbasi-Ashtari, 2016). Since pistachio kernels have 50e60%
valuable unsaturated fatty acids (linoleic, linolenic and oleic acids),
they have many health benefits including cholesterol level regu-
lation and cardiovascular diseases moderation, and antioxidant
activity because of its polyphenols and tocopherols (Maskan &
Karatas, 1998; Tsantili, Konstantinidis, Christopoulos, & Roussos,
2011).
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: mokhtarian.mo@gmail.com (M. Mokhtarian).
harvesting (including handling, transportation, green-hull peeling,
washing, dehydrating, grading, storing and packaging), drying is
the key process for producing pistachio with high quality. The
improper operation of pistachio drying not only causes severe
(qualitative and quantitative) damage to the resulting nuts, it re-
duces its market value considerably (Tavakolipour, 2015).
The moisture content of harvested pistachio after green skin
removal is ~40e50% (wet basis) based on date and climatic location.
However, its moisture should be reduced to below 5% to protect its
organoleptic and nutritional values during storage and distribution
(Iranian National Standardization Organization, 2014). Usually, in-
dustrial and traditional (shade and sunlight) methods are used to
dry pistachio nuts in Iran. Since traditional pistachio drying is a very
slow process (usually takes 2e3 days period depending on the
weather conditions) and it is not easy to control its final moisture
content, because of its contamination with dust, dirt, rain, animals,
birds, rodents, insects and microorganisms, a relatively low quality
product is obtained after drying. On the other hand, industrial
traditional drying requires high processing cost, generates green-
house gas emissions (especially CO2 emission) because of burning

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2016.08.056
0023-6438/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 M. Mokhtarian et al. / LWT - Food Science and Technology 75 (2017) 202e209
fossil fuels and consumes significant amounts of energy to heat and
move the air-flow (Reyes, Mahn, & Va squez, 2014). Additionally, it
uses high temperatures (~90
C) which affects the sensory attri-
butes of good flavor of fresh pistachio nuts and generates roasted
taste. Solar drying can be used as a safer and more efficient method
of preservation compared to industrial and traditional drying
methods. It improves the quality of final product, reduces produc-
tion cost, and without generating greenhouse gas damaging global
environment (Sahin, Sumnu, & Tunaboyu, 2013). Iran located be-
tween 25.2 and 38.3
N latitudes and 44.3 and 62.6
E longitudes of
Middle East is geographically well situated for receiving solar en-
ergy (Farzaneh-Gord, Arabkoohsar, DeymiDasht-bayaz, Machado, &
Koury, 2014). According to renewable energy organization of Iran
[REOI] (2015), Iran's daily average solar radiation on a horizontal
plane is 4.5e5 kW h/m2.day (or 1620e1800 kW h/m2yr). Limited
studies on pistachio nut solar drying have been recorded in scien-
tific literature. Kouchakzadeh (2013) reported that using the com-
bination of solar and acoustic energy for pistachio drying lowered
its processing cost (because of using renewable energy) and
dehydration time to 4 h. Ghazanfari, Tabil Jr, and Sokhansanj (2003)
used a thin-layer forced air solar drier for drying pistachio nuts and
were able to increase ambient air temperature from 20 to 56
C.
While they had a longer drying time than conventional heated air-
drying, its drying time and final quality respectively were shorter
and much better than the ones in sun drying. Midilli (2001) dried
pistachio nuts within 6 h by using a solar drying without air
recycling system. However, he had to use auxiliary heater and raise
air temperature to more than 50
C. The sun drying system of
pistachio at 28e30
C needs much longer time than commercial or
solar dryers and takes up to 48 h depends on the fresh product
specifications, drying and environmental conditions (Kashaninejad,
Tabil, Mortazavi, & Safe Kordi, 2003).
The main objective of this study was to measure and evaluate
respectively the physicochemical and sensory properties of pista-
chio dehydrated with the two solar systems (with and without air
recycling) and compare with the ones dried with traditional (sun
and shade) methods.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Preparation and drying methods
Fresh famous Pistachios of Kalle Gnocchi variety (Pistacia vera L.)
with average moisture content of ~370 g/kg (37.17% wet basis) were
daily purchased from a local gardener. According to AOAC-Method
934.06 (1990), a Memmert hot air convective oven (model UNE
400 PA, Schwabach, Germany) was used to measure moisture
content of pistachio at 105
C for 24 h. The harvested pistachios
were de-hulled, cleaned and placed in sealed plastic containers,
and stored in a refrigerator (Daewoo, FRS-2411S, Korea) at 3
C for
~14 h. Four kg of peeled pistachio (without green skin) were firstly
conditioned to room temperature and then dried with each of the
four following methods. They were packed in sealed plastic con-
tainers and stored in a dark and dry place during night hours.
 Method I (shade drying): A single layer of fresh pistachio was
spread on a cotton cloth (with area of ~0.65 m2) and exposed to
ambient air and dried to constant weight. The drying process
continued for 5 days. The average relative humidity of ambient
air during the drying process was 14.96%.
 Method II (sun drying): A single layer of fresh pistachio was
spread on a cotton cloth (with area of ~0.65 m2) and exposed to
direct sunlight for 2 days. According to the local weather station,
the average values of wind velocity, solar radiation, ambient air
temperature and relative humidity during drying time were
203
5.89 m s1, 752.2 W m2, 28.2
C and 22.5%, respectively. This
drying process was continued to constant weight.
 Method III (conventional solar drying): Two trays of drying
chamber were covered with single layer of the fresh pistachio
and dried with ambient air heated by the primary solar collector.
The solar drying was completed in 4 sequential days during the
sunlight hours.
 Method IV (conventional solar drying along with air recycling):
Two trays of the drying chamber were covered with a single
layer of fresh pistachio and dried with ambient air heated by the
two (primary and secondary) solar collectors and recirculation
of drying air. When the RH of the output air from the drying
chamber (sensed by electronic controlling unit) dropped to
15% (after about 2 h of drying), the air recycling was started.
The solar drying was completed in 3 sequential days again
during the sunlight hours.
It is necessary to mention that Methods I (shade drying), II (sun
drying) and III (conventional or solar drying without air recycling)
were performed in similar sunshine and environmental conditions
(ambient air temperature, relative humidity, speed and direction of
wind). The Method IV (solar drying with air recycling) was per-
formed right after Method III (because we did not have any option
to perform Methods III and IV simultaneously). Fortunately, the
solar radiations and environmental conditions of Method IV were
very close to the time that Method III was tested and their differ-
ences were quite low and negligible.
The pistachio in Methods II, III and IV were dried every day from
8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. continuously. All the experimental runs were
carried out between 20 and 30th days of September 2014. The
experimental location of the study has latitude 36
130 N and
longitude 57
370 E. The AM2303 sensors modules (Aosong Elec-
tronics Co., Ltd., Guangzhou, China) were installed at three fixed
points (at input and output of collector and also output of drying
chamber) of solar drier (used in Methods III and IV) and connected
to a lap-top computer to record the air temperature (T) and relative
humidity (RH) data at 30 s time intervals. This sensor was able to
show relative humidity between 0.1 and 99.9% and temperature
from 40 to 125
C with ±0.3
C accuracy. It had also different
capacitive components which were unified together by a high-
performance of 8-bit microcontroller. Its voltage and average cur-
rent consumption were 5 v and 300 mA, respectively. Microcon-
troller program was written in Code Vision AVR software version
1.23.8. The software of solar drier was written in Visual C#.NET
2010.
2.2. Solar dryer specifications
The solar system (shown in Fig. 1) had two porous flat plate
collectors (primary and secondary), a drying chamber with two
trays, a centrifugal fan, an output damper to adjust the amount of
drying air for circulation or exhausting, fitting and connection pipes
and an electrical controlling system. The body of the primary solar
collector was made from a white galvanized sheet with a thickness
of 0.5 mm, and its external dimensions were 1.98 m (long)  1 m
(wide)  0.22 m (height). The bottom and sides of both collectors
were insulated with 3 cm thick glass wool to minimize the heat
loss. The collector had a transparent glass cover with a thickness of
4 mm. A black-painted aluminum porous plate with a thickness of
1.1 mm was inserted below the glass cover of each collector to
improve heat absorption of solar radiation. The heat absorber plates
had circular holes (d ¼ 2 mm) with 1 cm spacing from each other.
The external dimensions of the secondary collector were 0.805 m
(long)  0.55 m (wide)  0.22 m (height). The collectors tilt and
orientation were determined from the following equation (Duffie &
204 M. Mokhtarian et al. / LWT - Food Science and Technology 75 (2017) 202e209
Fig. 1. The actual view of two drying systems installed with air recycling (right section) and without air recycling (left section), respectively with two and one solar heat-
collector:(1) primary solar collector, (2) drying chamber with two perforated plates inside, (3) outlet air damper, and (4) secondary solar collector.
Beckman, 1991):

 
360
b ¼ ðF  dÞ ¼ F  23:45 sin ð284 þ NÞ
365
where, b is the angle of the solar collector with the horizontal plane
(
), F is latitude degree (
), d is declination angle (
) with the south
direction and N is the number of the day (in the January N ¼ 1 and
in December N ¼ 365).
Thus, to receive maximum heat energy by sun radiation, the
solar collector was faced inclined to the south with 40
angle
(selected according to the pistachio harvest season). The external
body of the drying chamber was made from a black iron sheet with
thickness of 3 mm. The external dimensions were 1 m (long)  1 m
(wide)  1 m (height). Also, the inner sides of the drying chamber
were coated with white galvanized sheet with a thickness of
0.6 mm to prevent rusting. The outsides of the drying chamber
were insulated with 3 cm thick glass wool to decrease heat transfer
rate and minimize the heat loss. Two constructed trays (0.88 m
long  0.84 m wide  0.04 m height) were inserted inside the
drying chamber and covered with a mono-layer of fresh and peeled
pistachio. A backward curved and closed type centrifugal fan
(746 W power single phase electric motor 220 V, 50 Hz and
2800 rpm, impeller diameter of 25 cm, width of 8.5 cm respectively
and velocity of ~5 m s1) was installed to provide enough air flow in
the drying chamber for Method IV.
2.3. Quality parameters measurement
The AOAC standard method (No.931.04, 1990) was used to
quantify the final moisture content of dried pistachio nut after
drying. The shell splitting parameter (or distance between nut
shells due to the dehydration process) of pistachio was measured
by using A Vertex Digital Caliper (Model M502, China) with an
accuracy of ±0.01 mm. The color attributes (L, a, and b values) were
measured by an Image J software version 1.48. A wooden box with
white interior walls and a fluorescent lamp (12 W) was used to
measure the color properties of fresh and dehydrated pistachio. A
digital Canon camera (Canon, SX230 HS, Japan) was used to take
(1)
photos of prepared samples and transfer them to a computer
equipped with color determination software. Three color parame-
ters of pistachio including, “a” (redness), “b” (yellowness) and “L”
(lightness) were measured in ranges of 120 (greenish) to þ120
(reddish), 120 (bluish) to þ120 (yellowish), and 0 (black) to 100
(white), respectively. The “a” and “b” were used to calculate their
hue (h) or dominant wavelength of the color and chroma (C) or
saturation according to equations (2) and (3) (Sahin & Sumnu,
2006, p. 267).
h i0:5
C * ¼ a2 þ b2 (2)
 
b
h* ¼ arc tan (3)
a
Then Equation (4) was used to calculate the color change (DE) of
pistachio dried with different methods.
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
DE ¼ ðDLÞ2 þ ðDaÞ2 þ ðDbÞ2 (4)
where, DL is the lightness difference, Da is the red/green difference
and Db is the yellow/blue difference (Sahin & Sumnu, 2006, p. 267).
Shrinkage of the dried samples (Devahastin, Suvarnakuta,
Soponronnarit, & Mujumdar, 2004) was computed by using Equa-
tion (5).
Vi  Vf
% Shrinkage ¼  100 (5)
Vi
where Vi and Vf were the initial and final volumes of pistachio (m3)
before and after drying in each experiment, respectively.
The volume and mass of 1000 fresh and dried pistachio seeds
 M. Mokhtarian et al. / LWT - Food Science and Technology 75 (2017) 202e209
were determined respectively by using Toluene (C7H8) to measure
its liquid displacement (Mohsenin, 1986, p. 891) and an analytical
balance with precision of ±0.1 g (Dahongying, China). The unit mass
of each pistachio nut was measured by using a precision electronic
balance (AND, model EK 300i, Japan) with precision of ±0.001 g.
The bulk (loose pistachios) density (rb) and packed (without air)
density (rp) of mass of pistachios were measured by methods of
Mohsenin (1986, p. 891). Then the solid density (rs) and compo-
nents density (ri) of pistachio kernel were calculated according to
equations (6)e(8) (Sahin & Sumnu, 2006, p. 267).
mb
rb ¼
Vb
mk
rp ¼
Vk
1 X
n
xi
¼ (8)
rs r
i¼1 i
where (mb & Vb), (mk & Vk), and xi are respectively for (mass &
volume) of loose pistachios, (mass & volume) of packed (without
air) pistachios, and mass components of pistachio kernel. The
average contents of protein, lipid, carbohydrate, fiber, ash and
moisture content of dried pistachio are 181, 579, 162, 19, 24, and
35 g/kg (Tavakolipour, 2015). Equations (9)e(14) were used to
calculate the true density of pistachio kernel (Choi & Okos, 1986).
rprotein ¼ 1:3299  103  0:51840T
rfat ¼ 9:2559  102  0:41757T
rcarbohydrate ¼ 1:5991  103  0:31046T
rfiber ¼ 1:3115  103  0:36589T
rash ¼ 2:4238  103  0:28063T
rwater ¼ 997:18 þ 3:1439  103 T  3:7574  103 T 2
In Equations (9)e(14), the temperature (T) is in
C and can be
changed from 40 to 150
C. Equations (15) and (16) were used to
calculate the pistachio kernel porosity (ε) and voidage of (εb ) bulk
pistachios, respectively.


rp
εð%Þ ¼ 1  100
rs
!
rb
εb ð%Þ ¼ 1  100
rp
2.4. Evaluation of sensory attributes and organoleptic properties
The sensory criterion of dehydrated pistachio nuts were evalu-
ated by 10 trained and experienced panelists in three sessions.
Pistachios were stored at ambient temperature 12 h before evalu-
ation to reach the room temperature. Samples were labeled with 3-
digit random numbers and presented to panelists in a randomized
order. According to Stone and Sidel (2004, p. 408) and Kader,
Labivitch, Mitchell, and Sommer (1978) methods, panelists scored
205
sensory attributes (rancidity, sweetness and roasting flavors),
organoleptic characteristics (degrees of shell appearance, shell
splitting, firmness, visual color, and releasing pistachio kernels by
fingers) and overall palatability of pistachio kernels. They used 5-
point hedonic scale (1 ¼ extremely dislike, 2 ¼ dislike, 3 ¼ inert,
4 ¼ like and 5 ¼ extremely like) to score different properties and
their means were considered for final evaluation.
2.5. Statistical analysis
Statistic (a statistical software version 8) was used to make
(6) necessary analysis for variances (ANOVA) for the recorded data
(obtained from the five replicates of each method) and the means
among different treatments were compared by using least signifi-
(7) cant difference (LSD) test at the confidence level of 95% (Zagumny,
2001).
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Thermodynamic conditions
Fig. 2 and Table 1 show the effects of solar heat collector on
radiation energy and temperature rise of ambient air used for
drying pistachio in Methods II and IV. The variation of air temper-
ature and wind speed vs. local time for shade drying of pistachio
nut is shown in Fig. 2a. Despite the fluctuation in wind speed versus
local time (from 1.0 to 10 m/s) the temperature rise of ambient air
in Methods I and II were negligible (<1
C) (Table 1). Fig. 2b shows
that the ambient air temperature of Method II in the first day was
(9)
higher than the second day and it continuously increased from
morning until afternoon and reached to a maximum of 33.1
C at ~1
(10) p.m. (corresponding to radiation energy of 874.33 W/m2) due to the
direct heat of sun drying. Fig. 2c and d shows the temperature rise
for input of solar collector, input of drying chamber (or output of
(11)
solar collector) and output of drying chamber on different days in
solar drying of pistachio. While similar trends were observed for
(12) rising ambient air temperature in different days and daytime, the
input ambient air temperature for Method III and IV increased
respectively to ~14.0 and 17.0
C at 1:00 p.m. (Table 1). The input
(13)
temperature of drying chamber in Method IV reached to 54.2
C
and left the system with less than 3
C reduction (51.5
C). In other
(14) words, the solar drying with air recycling process took place in an
adiabatic process. Midilli (2001) used a convectional solar dryer
and could increase the ambient air temperature from the range of
21e32
C to 40e60
C for drying pistachio. It is necessary to explain
that in the second day of pistachio drying, extreme fluctuations of
solar radiations were observed due to weather conditions and a few
hours of cloudy sky (Fig. 2d).
(15)
3.2. Drying time and dehydration rate
The drying times to reach safe moisture content of less than
(16)
50 g/kg (5% wet basis) in methods I, II, III, and IV respectively were
48, 19, 16, and 13 h (Fig. 3). These results showed that the Method I
(shade drying), Method II (sun drying) and Method III (solar drying
without air recycling) respectively had drying times 3.7, 1.5 and 1.2
times that of Method IV (solar drying along with air recycling). In
other words, Method IV had a drying time of 27%, 68% and 81% that
of respectively Methods I, II and III. While Kashaninejad, Mortazavi,
Safekordi, and Tabil (2007) spent 11 h at 55
C to reduce initial
moisture content of pistachio from ~370 g/kg (37% wet basis) to
~50 g/kg (5% wet basis) by using an electrical heater, our results
showed that solar drying of pistachio with air recycling can dry
pistachio at lower than 45
C temperature and reduce the its
moisture content from 400 g/kg (40% wet basis) to less than ~50 g/
206 M. Mokhtarian et al. / LWT - Food Science and Technology 75 (2017) 202e209

Fig. 2. Variation of the climate conditions at different pistachio drying modes: shade drying for Method I (a), sun drying for Method II (b) and solar drying system for Methods III
and IV (c, d). (T1: collector input air temperature, T2; drying chamber input air temperature, T3; drying chamber output air temperature) [Legend:T1 (A), T2 (C), T3 (∎), solar
radiation (:) and wind speed (d)].

kg (5% wet basis within 13 h with better quality and most probably drying rates in Fig. 3). Akpinar (2010) and Fudholi et al. (2014)
lower energy. It is possible to use high temperatures (>45
C) for obtained similar results when they compared solar drying system
drying pistachio and reduce its dehydration time much shorter with conventional sun drying to dehydrate respectively mint leaves
than Method IV, however the quality of final pistachio reduces and red pepper. The ANOVA results (Table 2) showed that Methods
considerably. Gazor and Minaei (2005) dried pistachio between 80 of II, III and IV had pronounced effects on reduction of the moisture
and 90
C (to reduce its moisture content from ~40 to 5% wet basis) content of fresh pistachio to a safe level (below 5%) at 95% proba-
within 6 h. They reported that its peroxide value increased during bility level in comparison with method I. Different researchers
storage, indicating rancidity. Air recycling system in solar drying of (Kamangar & Farsam, 1977; Kashaninejad et al., 2003) claimed that
nuts has effect on drying time. While Dhanushkodi, Wilson, and the final moisture content of pistachio nuts in various drying
Sudhakar (2014) used cabinet solar dryer for cashew nut drying methods should be less than 5% (w.b).
(without heated air recycling) to reduce its moisture content only 5
level (from 10 to 5%) within 6 h, our solar drying with air recycling
system could reduce the moisture content of pistachio 32 level
(from 37 to 5%) within 13 h (as a results of increasing drying rate).
Fig. 3 clearly shows that the drying rate of pistachio dehydrated
with Method IV was significantly higher than those dried in
Methods I and II (compare the coefficients of quadratic functions of

Table 1
Solar radiation, wind speed and rise of ambient temperature for various methods of
pistachio drying.

Drying methods Solar radiation Rise in ambient air temperature

energy, W/m2 (minimum to maximum),
C

Method Ia e e
Method IIb 74e874 Less than 1
Method IIIc 631e854 10e14.0 for using only one solar collector
Method IVd 438e916 11e17.0 for using two solar collectors
a
Shade drying. Fig. 3. The relation of drying time and final safe moisture content (less than 5%) in
b
Sun drying. different pistachio drying methods [Legend; (∎): Method I (shade drying), (A):
c
Conventional solar drying. Method II (sun drying), (:): Method III (conventional solar drying) and (C): Method
d
Conventional solar drying along with heated air circulation. IV (conventional solar drying along with air recycling)].
 M. Mokhtarian et al. / LWT - Food Science and Technology 75 (2017) 202e209 207

Table 2
The mean values (average of 5 replicates) of physical and geometrical specifications of pistachio (with solid density of 1073.4 kg/m3) dried with different methods*.

Drying Moisture content Shell splitting 1000 Unit mass Bulk density (kg/ Packed density (kg/ Porosity Voidage Unit volume Shrinkage
methods (g/kg) (mm) Seed (g) m3)-rb m3)-rp (%) (%) (cm3) (%)
(kg)

Fresh 370 ± 12a 2 ± 0.1d 2 ± 0.1a 2.4 ± 0.1a 546 ± 4a 1025 ± 15ab 4 ± 1.4ab 47 ± 1b 2.3 ± 0.1a 0 ± 0b
Pistachio
Method Ia 60 ± 5b 4 ± 1.2c 1.5 ± 0.0b 1.6 ± 0.1b 443 ± 4b 1055 ± 16a 2 ± 1.5b 57 ± 0.7a 1.5 ± 0.0b 36 ± 2.7a
Method IIb 50 ± 7c 7 ± 1.8ab 1.4 ± 0.1c 1.6 ± 0.1b 407 ± 4d 1003 ± 30b 7 ± 2.9a 59 ± 1.2 a 1.5 ± 0.1b 34 ± 6.1a
Method IIIc 40 ± 3c 6 ± 1.9b 1.5 ± 0.1bc 1.6 ± 0.1b 422 ± 19c 1006 ± 33b 6 ± 3.1a 58 ± 1.7a 1.6 ± 0.1b 32 ± 4.2a
Method IVd 40 ± 2c 7 ± 1.9a 1.5 ± 0.1bc 1.6 ± 0.1b 415 ± 5cd 1010 ± 32b 6 ± 2.9a 59 ± 1.4a 1.6 ± 0.1b 32 ± 4.5a

*The same letters in each column are not statistically different (p < 0.05).
a
Shade drying.
b
Sun drying.
c
Conventional solar drying.
d
Conventional solar drying along with heated air circulation.

3.3. Physical properties 3.3.2. Shrinkage, density, porosity and voidage

3.3.1. Shell splitting
The ANOVA results showed that different drying modes had
meaningful and significant effects (p < 0.05) on shell splitting of
pistachio nut (Table 2). Furthermore, the pistachio nut dried in
Method IV had 70% more shell splitting values than the samples in
Method I (Table 2). According to Razavi, Emadzadeh, Rafe, and
Mohammad Amini (2007a) and Kashaninejad, Mortazavi,
Safekordi, and Tabil (2006), moisture content is one of the main
factors affecting shell splitting of pistachio nut. Based on our ob-
tained results, pistachio nuts dried in solar dryer with air recycling
system had a high shell splitting due to its lowest final moisture
content (Table 2). Fig. 4 confirmed that the pistachio nut dried with
method IV had the best splitting results among different drying
methods.
The shrinkage value of nuts dried in Methods III and IV were
significantly lower than the Methods I and II and the lowest
shrinkage was recorded for pistachio nuts dried with Method IV.
The pistachio dehydrated with Methods I and II had higher
shrinkages because they had longer drying times (Table 2). Ac-
cording to Kashaninejad et al. (2003) when drying air temperature
increases (up to 65
C) it generate better shell appearance and more
split shell in fresh pistachio due to more moisture evaporation and
more volume reduction.
The drying process had considerable effects on reduction of bulk
density, porosity and voidage of fresh pistachio due to its moisture
evaporation and volume reduction. While the bulk density and
porosity of fresh pistachio kernels dried with methods II, III and IV
respectively were lower and higher than fresh sample at significant
level, these two parameters of pistachio dehydrated with method

Fig. 4. The overall views of fresh and dried pistachio nuts dehydrated with various methods: fresh pistachio (a), Method I (b), Method II (c), Method III (d) and Method IV (e).
208 M. Mokhtarian et al. / LWT - Food Science and Technology 75 (2017) 202e209

Table 3 3.4. Sensory attributes and organoleptic properties

The rounded mean values (average of 5 replicates) of color attributes of pistachio
dried with different methods*.
3.4.1. Sensory attributes (rancidity tastes, roasting and sweetness
Drying methods L A b DE flavors) and overall palatability
Fresh Pistachio 58 ± 1.4b 2 ± 0.2a 3 ± 0.6a 0 ± 0.0b Sensory attributes (rancidity, taste, roasting and sweetness fla-
Method Ia 61 ± 1.4a 1 ± 0.2b 2 ± 0.1b 3 ± 1.2a vors), organoleptic properties (appearance, degrees of shell split-
Method IIb 60 ± 1.1a 2 ± 0.3a 2 ± 0.3b 2 ± 1.1c ting, firmness, visual color and releasing kernel by fingers) and
Method IIIc 60 ± 1.3a 1 ± 0.2b 3 ± 0.5a 2 ± 1.2c
overall palatability of pistachio nuts shows how these mean values
Method IVd 60 ± 0.9a 1 ± 0.2b 3 ± 0.2a 2 ± 0.9c
changed as a results of using different drying methods. Table 4
*The same letters in each column are not statistically different (p < 0.05).
a
shows that the roasting flavor of pistachio nuts dried with dis-
Shade drying.
b
Sun drying.
similar modes had significant differences (p < 0.01) with each
c
Conventional solar drying. other. While the highest roasting flavor score was related to
d
Conventional solar drying along with heated air circulation. Method II most probably due to its direct sunlight on pistachio
during drying, the ones dried in Method I (shade drying) got the
lowest score. The air drying temperature in Method IV was
IV were significantly lesser and higher than those dried with ~45e50
C (much below the required roasting temperature of
method III because of heated air recycling (Table 2). Whereas our pistachio). The ‘sweetness flavor’ scores of pistachio nuts dried with
results for bulk density and porosity of fresh and dried pistachio Methods II, III and IV were significantly (p < 0.01) higher than the
(shown in Table 2) were agreed with researchers’ reports ones dried with Method I most probably because they absorbed
(Kashaninejad et al., 2006; Razavi, Rafe, Mohammadi Moghaddam, more heat and dried with less moisture than those dried in Method
& Mohammad Amini, 2007b), the shrinkage of pistachio dried with I (shade area). Furthermore, the panelists' scores showed clearly
Methods III and IV were lower than Methods I and II. These data that the differences in overall palatability were significant. How-
showed that the drying temperature of solar Methods (III and IV) ever, nuts dried in solar dryer system had the highest score and
had lesser negative effects on shrinkage and porosity of pistachio those dried in shade achieved the lowest statistical score. Since
than those dried with Methods I and II. consumer acceptance is the ultimate test of nut quality, and the
panelists marked the highest positive sensory scores and the lowest
3.3.3. Color parameters rancidity level for pistachio dried with Method IV (in comparison
The ANOVA results showed that different drying modes had with other methods), its overall palatability was significantly
effects on changing the color parameters (mainly “L”, and “a” higher than those dried with other methods.
values) of fresh pistachio. As Table 3 shows the lightness (L) values
of fresh pistachio significantly increased from a mean value of
~57e~60 because of using different drying processes. Most prob- 3.4.2. Shell appearance, visual color and firmness
ably a mild roasting took place in fresh pistachio during dehydra- Shell appearance and firmness (crunchiness) are the main factor
tion. While the lightness of fresh sesame and pistachio kernels for pricing of dehydrated pistachio. While appearance and firmness
increase with relatively low temperature drying (~50
C), it of pistachio dried with various methods were significantly
decrease when they roast at high temperature (~120
C) as a results (p < 0.01) different from each other, the ones dried with Methods I
of Maillard reactions and suitable conditions for browning re- and IV got the lowest and highest shell appearance and firmness
actions (Hojjati, Calın-Sanchez, Razavi, & Carbonell-Barrachina, scores, respectively. Although high temperature drying (~120
C)
2013; Kahyaoglu & Kaya, 2006). The lightness values of our fresh decreases the firmness and hardness of different nuts (Kahyaoglu &
pistachio were comparable with those that Tsantili et al. (2010) Kaya, 2006), the mild temperature drying (~50
C) increased the
measured in kernels membranes (outer surface) of different fresh firmness of the pistachio because of its potential to remove more
pistachio varieties (ranged from 38 to 53). moisture from the product (Table 2).
No significant differences was found between the “L” and “a” Shell staining (discoloration) which is a negative appearance
values of pistachio dried with Method IV and Method I (shade quality factor in pistachio should be minimized by proper har-
drying) which had the best color parameters (Table 3) Although the vesting time and conditions as well as reducing delays between
Chroma (color saturation) of pistachio kernels dried with Method harvest and hull removal. The high anthocyanin (~1 mg/g) and
IV was significantly (p < 0.05) higher than Method I, its hue phenolic compounds (~6 mg/g) of dried pistachio (Seeram et al.,
(dominant color wavelength) was very close to the pistachio dried 2006) may degrade and discolor its shell during this delay. The
with Method I (shade drying). This means that the pistachio dried harvested pistachio nuts should be de-hulled with tap water in
with solar drying with air recycling had a dominant color between order to avoid shell staining. Late harvesting and improper shell
red and yellow which was very adjacent to those dried in shade staining have negative effects on shell appearance of pistachio after
area with different color saturation. dehydration (Thompson, Rumsey, & Spinoglio, 1997). The panelists

Table 4
The mean values (average of 10 replicates) of the sensory score of pistachio characteristics after drying with different methods*.

Drying methods Releasing kernel by fingers Rancidity Roasted flavor Color Firmness Shell appearance Shell splitting Sweetness Overall palatability
a
Method I 1.8 ± 0.4c 3.6 ± 0.5b 2.4 ± 0.5d 3.0 ± 0.0c 2.0 ± 0.7d 2.8 ± 0.4c 1.8 ± 0.4d 1.8 ± 0.4c 19.2c
Method IIb 4.8 ± 0.4a 4.8 ± 0.4a 5.0 ± 0.0a 4.2 ± 1.2b 4.0 ± 0.0b 4.6 ± 0.5a 4.4 ± 0.5b 5.0 ± 0.0a 36.8a
Method IIIc 4.0 ± 0.0b 1.8 ± 0.4c 3.6 ± 0.5c 3.8 ± 0.4b 3.4 ± 0.5c 3.8 ± 0.8b 3.4 ± 0.5c 4.0 ± 0.0b 28.2b
Method IVd 5.0 ± 0.0a 1.0 ± 0.0d 4.4 ± 0.5b 5.0 ± 0.0a 5.0 ± 0.0a 5.0 ± 0.0a 5.0 ± 0.0a 5.0 ± 0.0a 35.4a

*The same letters in each column are not statistically different (p < 0.05).
a
Shade drying.
b
Sun drying.
c
Conventional solar drying.
d
Conventional solar drying along with heated air circulation.
 M. Mokhtarian et al. / LWT - Food Science and Technology 75 (2017) 202e209
preferred the naturally yellowish color of pistachio dried with
Method IV in comparison with the other methods because it did not
have discoloration and had more attractive pigment.
3.4.3. Shell splitting
Shell splitting (or exit of kernel by fingers) in pistachio nuts has
considerable effects on appearance, acceptance and consequently
its price. Different drying modes had significant effects (p < 0.01)
on shell splitting of dried pistachio nuts. The highest score of shell
splitting was observed in solar drying method (Method IV)
(Table 4).
4. Conclusions
This study introduced that the solar drying along with air
recycling system (Method IV) had three advantages in comparison
with the solar drying without air recycling (Methods III). The sug-
gestive method was able to dehydrate pistachio with a shorter
drying time (13 h) than Method III (16 h), and much shorter than
sun drying (19 h) and shade drying (48 h) methods. Since the new
Method could increase the ambient air temperature up to 17
C
(higher than other methods), it had the highest drying rate among
different methods. The pleasant sensory properties (low rancidity,
high sweetness and high roasting flavor), interesting organoleptic
criteria (good looking color and shell appearance, enough shell
splitting and firmness, and finally easy releasing kernel by fingers),
and overall palatability of pistachio dried with Method IV were
significantly higher those dried with other methods. Overall, this
system uses clean and renewable solar energy, it has a high po-
tential to dehydrate pistachio with much faster and better quality
than other three methods of sun drying, shade drying and solar
drying without recycling air. The only limitation of this system is
fluctuation of ambient air in terms of continuous cloudiness and
high windy conditions during the solar drying of fresh pistachio.
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