LWT - Food Science and Technology 66 (2016) 34e40

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LWT - Food Science and Technology

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Refractance Window drying of pomegranate juice: Quality retention

and energy efficiency
Vahid Baeghbali a, Mehrdad Niakousari a, b, *, Asgar Farahnaky a, c
a
Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
b
Advanced Technologies Research Institute, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
c
School of Biomedical Sciences and Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales 2678, Australia

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

Article history: Refractance Window (RW) drying system utilizes circulating hot water as a means to carry thermal
Received 1 March 2015 energy to materials to be dehydrated. Products are spread on a transparent plastic conveyer belt that
Received in revised form moves over circulating water in a shallow trough. In this study the quality retention characteristics of
28 September 2015
pomegranate juice (PJ) concentrate dried in a continuous pilot scale RW drying system were evaluated
Accepted 5 October 2015
Available online 9 October 2015
against freeze drying and spray drying methods. Samples of PJ concentrate (Brix 64) mixed with Gum
Arabic as a carrier (35%, dry basis) were dried by the RW drying, freeze drying and spray drying methods.
Physicochemical properties including moisture content, solubility, bulk density and color parameters of
Keywords:
Refractance window drying
samples dried using different methods were compared. Chemical analysis and color measurements of
Pomegranate juice reconstituted samples showed that RW dryer can produce high-quality products with anthocyanins
Anthocyanins content, anthocyanins color and antioxidant activity equal or greater than those of the freeze dried and
Antioxidant activity spray dried samples. Energy consumption of the RW dryer was about one third and 1/40 of those of spray
Energy efficiency drying and freeze drying systems, respectively.
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction thermal energy to materials to be dehydrated. Pureed products are

Refractance Window™ (RW)1,2,3 as a relatively new film drying
technique is characterized by short time exposure of foods to
relatively low temperatures (Magoon, 1986; Nindo, Feng, Shen,
Tang, & Kang, 2003). For drying a similar amount of a product,
the cost of the RW equipment is estimated about one-third of the
cost of a freeze-dryer, whereas the energy consumption of a RW is
less than half of a freeze-dryer (Nindo & Tang, 2007). RW drying
system utilizes circulating water at 95e97
C as a means to carry
Abbreviations: RW, Refractance Window; PJ, pomegranate juice; FD, freeze
dryer; SD, spray dryer.
* Corresponding author. Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of
Agriculture, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran.
E-mail addresses: baeghbali@shirazu.ac.ir (V. Baeghbali), niakosar@shirazu.ac.ir
(M. Niakousari), farahnak@shirazu.ac.ir, afarahnaky@csu.edu.au (A. Farahnaky).
1
RW™ is a trademark used exclusively for Refractance Window® drying and
evaporation. Their mention in this paper is solely for correctness and does not
imply endorsement of the technology over other systems performing similar
function. Unless otherwise stated, RW will refer to Refractance Window® or RW™.
2
Refractance Window.
3
Pomegranate Juice.
spread on a transparent Mylar plastic conveyer belt that moves
over circulating water in a shallow trough and the unused thermal
energy in the circulating water is recycled (Fig. 1). The actual
product temperature is usually between 70
C and 80
C (Abonyi,
Feng et al. 2002). Previous studies on RW technology have shown
a high retention of product quality (color, vitamins and antioxi-
dants) as compared to other conventional drying methods
including freeze drying (Abonyi, Feng et al. 2002; Abonyi, Tang, &
Edwards, 1999; Nindo & Tang, 2007). A study on the effect of RW
drying, freeze drying, hot-air oven drying and natural convective
drying on color characteristics of paprika showed that the freeze
dried and RW dried paprika had better reflected color character-
istics and there was no significant difference in browning index
between freeze dried and RW dried samples (Topuz, Feng, &
Kushad, 2009); however further studies on the influence of dry-
ing methods on carotenoids and capsaicinoids of paprika showed
that natural convective drying method, due to an ongoing syn-
thesis, resulted in higher carotenoids and capsaicinoids contents
€
than those of other methods (Topuz, Dincer, Ozdemir, Feng, &
Kushad, 2011). Another study on drying of tomato juice using a
batch Refractance window dryer and a laboratory freeze dryer,

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2015.10.017
0023-6438/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 V. Baeghbali et al. / LWT - Food Science and Technology 66 (2016) 34e40
Fig. 1. Schematic of Refractance Window drying system (adapted from Abony et al. 2002).
showed no significant difference between ascorbic acid content
and color parameters of RW and freeze dried samples (Baeghbali,
Niakosari, & Kiani, 2010). In a recent study haskap berry puree
was dried using an RW dryer in industrial scale and the anthocy-
anin content of the product was determined using pH-differential
method and HPLC analysis. The results showed that the RW dried
haskap berries retained more than 90% of anthocyanins (Celli,
Khattab, Ghanem, & Brooks, 2016).
The pomegranate (Punica granatum, Punicaceae) is a native
seasonal fruit of Iran; however, its high nutritional value and
appealing taste make it desirable to have a pomegranate product
available throughout the year and drying is regarded as a suitable
tool to achieve this goal (Yousefi, Emam-Djomeh, & Mousavi,
2011). Pomegranate juice (PJ) concentrate is currently being pro-
duced in industrial scale and used for production of various fruit
juices, nectars, drinks and sauces. Dried PJ has better storability
and a longer shelf life than PJ concentrate. Studies have shown
the health benefits of phytochemicals in PJ, primarily polyphenols
including anthocyanin pigments, flavonol glycosides, procyani-
dins, phenolic acids and ellagic acid derivatives (Negi &
Jayaprakasha, 2003). Red color is the most important quality
criteria for fruit juices containing anthocyanin but unfortunately,
anthocyanins are susceptible to degradation (Somers & Evans,
1986). Various factors affect the stability of anthocyanins,
including the temperature of processing, the chemical nature of
anthocyanins, pH, ascorbic acid, hydrogen peroxide, sugars, light
and metals (Turfan, Türkyılmaz, Yemis, & Ozkan, € 2011). The
antioxidant capacity of commercial PJ is three times higher than
those of red wine and green tea (Gil, Tomas-Barberan, Hess-
Pierce, Holcroft, & Kader, 2000).
The present study aims to investigate the potential to produce PJ
powder using a pilot scale continuous RW dryer, a batch freeze
dryer and a pilot scale spray dryer and to compare the powders
obtained from the three methods in terms of physiochemical
characteristics of the powders, including moisture content, solu-
bility, yield, bulk density, color, anthocyanin color, total anthocya-
nins content, antioxidant activity and total phenolic compounds.
The three drying systems were also analyzed for specific energy
consumption and energy efficiency.
2. Materials and methods
PJ concentrate (
Brix ¼ 64) was purchased from a commercial
supplier (Green Farm, Neyriz, Iran); it was produced in industrial
35
scale by evaporation of clarified fresh pomegranate juice. PJ
concentrate was dried by a pilot scale continuous Refractance
Window dryer, a batch freeze drier (Dena Vacuum Industry,
Teheran, Iran) and a pilot scale spray drying unit (Maham Sanat,
Neyshabur, Iran). In preliminary tests, it was established that the PJ
concentrate could not be dried to a powder without supplementing
the feed with certain amount of a drying aid (antiplasticizing
agent); due to its high sugar and organic acid contents. Thus, the
feed was supplemented with gum Arabic prior to drying process.
Gum Arabic has high water solubility, relatively low viscosity
(compared to other gums e.g. xanthan gum) and high stability in
acidic solutions (Montenegro, Boiero, Valle, & Borsarelli, 2012).
Based on the previous studies, the minimum amount of gum Arabic
needed to yield a reasonable quantity of powder with the lowest
particle stickiness, was 35% of the total soluble solid of the PJ
concentrate (35% gum Arabic in the feed dry matter). In all drying
methods, the total soluble solid of the feed under investigation was
adjusted to 50% (oBrix ¼ 50) by adding distilled water. The total
soluble solids (
Brix) were determined at 25
C using an Abbe
refractometer (CETi, Belgium). All tests were conducted in tripli-
cate. The experimental conditions of the drying methods are
explained in the following sections.
2.1. Dryers
2.1.1. Refractance Window drying
A continuous pilot scale RW dryer with an effective length of
1.95 m was designed and fabricated in the Department of Food
Science and Technology at Shiraz University. Because of operation
of the exhaust fan, air at 28
C and 30% relative humidity (RH) was
forced over the bed at an average air velocity of 0.1 m/s to remove
the moisture. Air velocity was measured using an AM-4201
anemometer (Lutron, Taipei, Taiwan). The hot water temperature
was 91
C and the cooling water temperature was 20
C. The hot
water and the cooling water flow rates were 2.5 m3/hr and 1 m3/hr,
respectively. The Mylar belt speed was 3.9 mm/s. The thickness of
the PJ concentrate applied to the polymer belt was set to be
approximately 0.5 mm, using an adjustable blade. Flow rate of the
feed was regulated at 0.5 L per hour using a peristaltic pump.
Residence time of material on the drying belt was set to 8.5 min by
adjusting the belt speed. The feed (a mixture of PJ concentrate and
gum Arabic) was dried to 5.3% moisture content (wb). Dried
product was removed from the belt, using a doctor blade (Figs. 1
and 2).
36 V. Baeghbali et al. / LWT - Food Science and Technology 66 (2016) 34e40
Fig. 2. Refractance Window drying system used in this study (manufactured in Department of Food Science and Technology at Shiraz University).
2.1.2. Spray drying
A pilot-scale mixed flow spray dryer (Maham Sanat, Neyshabur,
Iran) was used in spray drying experiment. Inner diameter of the
dryer chamber was 115 cm and its height was 165 cm. A two-fluid
nozzle was used to atomize the sample pneumatically by high-
velocity compressed air at 1 bar pressure. Feed rate was 0.75 L
per hour and the feed temperature was 40
C. The inlet and outlet
air temperatures were 140 ± 1
C and 75 ± 1
C, respectively.
Samples were dried to moisture content of 2.9% (wb).
2.1.3. Freeze drying
The PJ concentrate samples were quick-frozen at 80
C. The
freeze dryer (Dena Vacuum Industry, Tehran, Iran) was operated at
an absolute pressure of 3.0 kPa. The heat plate temperature of the
freeze dryer was 20
C and the condenser temperature was 40
C.
Initial weight of each sample was 100 g and the drying time to
reduce moisture content to 8.5% (wb) was 24 h. Some researchers
have chosen long periods of time (up to 8 days) for freeze drying in
order to obtain powders with lower moisture content; e.g., Topaz
et al., 2009 and 2011. In this study freeze drying time was
selected to be 24 h in order to have practical energy efficiency
comparison with pilot scale RW and spray dryers. Freeze drying
was included because it is frequently used as a high quality drying
standard against other drying systems in producing dehydrated
fruits and vegetables (Nindo & Tang, 2007).
After drying, the products were vacuum packed in polyethylene
bags, sealed using a DZ-400 vacuum packing machine (Wenzhou
Zhonghuan Packaging Machine Co., Ltd, China) and stored at 4
C
for further analysis.
2.2. Moisture content determination
Moisture content of the dried PJ samples was determined using
oven method (103 ± 1
C) according to the approved method of
Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC, 2002).
2.3. Solubility
Solubility was determined according to Eastman and Moore
(1984) with some modifications. First, 100 mL of distilled water
was transferred into a blender jar. The powder sample (1 g, dry
basis) was carefully added to the blender operating at 15,000 rpm
for 5 min. The solution was poured into a tube and centrifuged at
3000  g for 5 min. An aliquot of 25 mL of the supernatant was then
transferred to a pre-weighed petri dishes and immediately oven-
dried at 105
C for 5 h. The solubility (%) was calculated as the
weight difference (Cano-Chauca, Stringheta, Ramos, & Cal-Vidal,
2005).
2.4. Yield
Weight of the dry material of the produced powders and weight
of the feeds consumed were used to determine the spray dryer and
RW dryer yields according to the Equation (1).
P  SP
Yield ¼  100 (1)
L  SF
where P is the rate of powder production (g/min), SP is the percent
of total solids of the powder, L is the feed flow rate (g/min), and SF is
the percent of total solids of the feed (Chegini & Ghobadian, 2007).
The freeze drying was performed in a batch system therefore its
yield was calculated using the same equation where P is the weight
of dried product (g), SP is the percentage of total solids of the
powder, L is the weight of sample before drying (g), and SF is the
percentage of total solids of the sample.
2.5. Bulk density
To determine the (tapped) bulk density, 20 g of each powder
was weighed into a 100 mL graduated cylinder then gently dropped
10 times on a rubber mat from a height of 15 cm. The bulk density
was calculated by dividing the mass of the powder by the volume of
the cylinder occupied by the powder (Goula, Karapantsios, Achilias,
& Adamopoulos, 2008).
2.6. Pomegranate juice reconstitution
Dehydrated samples were rehydrated at room temperature with
deionized water. The amount of water used to reconstitute the PJ
powders was calculated based on the moisture content of the dried
samples to reach a soluble solid content of 20% (g solid/g water) in
the mixture. According to the Codex general standard for fruit
juices and nectars, minimum pomegranate soluble solids level
(Brix) for reconstituted PJ is 12.0% (Codex Standard 247, 2005). In
the present study pomegranate soluble solids in reconstituted
samples were adjusted to 13.0%. Since the dried samples contained
35% gum Arabic (in dry matter), a reconstituted sample with 20%
soluble solids, was consisted of 13% pomegranate soluble solids
(and 7% gum Arabic). The control sample was prepared by adding
deionized water and gum Arabic to PJ concentrate to reach a soluble
solid content of 20% in the mixture similar to the reconstituted
samples.
 V. Baeghbali et al. / LWT - Food Science and Technology 66 (2016) 34e40
2.7. Chemical analysis
In this study, the influences of different drying methods on pH,
titratable acidity, anthocyanin color, total anthocyanins content,
antioxidant activity and total phenolic compounds of reconstituted
PJs were investigated.
The pH was determined using a pH/mV/temperature meter
(Keison, UK). Titratable acidity was determined according to the
AOAC (2002), and expressed as percentage of the citric acid.
Total anthocyanins content of samples was determined by pH
differential method using two buffer systems: potassium chloride
buffer, pH 1.0 (0.025 M) and sodium acetate buffer, pH 4.5 (0.4 M)
(Cam, Hisil, & Durmaz, 2009). Briefly, 0.4 mL of PJ sample was
mixed with 3.6 mL of corresponding buffers and read against water
as a blank at 510 nm (A510) and 700 nm (A700). The Equation (2) was
used to calculate absorbance (A):
A ¼ ðA510  A700 ÞpH1:0  ðA510  A700 ÞpH4:5
Total anthocyanin content (TAC) of samples (mg cyanidin-3-
glucoside/100 mL of PJ) was evaluated using equation (3):
TAC ¼ ðA  MW  DF  100Þ=MA
where A: absorbance; MW: molecular weight (449.2); DF: dilution
factor (10); MA: molar absorptivity of cyanidin-3-glucoside
(26,900).
Anthocyanin color (AC) was determined by spectrophotometry
(Alper, Savas, & Acar, 2005) using Equation (4):
AC ¼ ½ðAbs533a  Abs700 Þ  ðAbs533b  Abs700 Þ  DF
where Abs533a is the reading in a sample without bisulfite appli-
cation, and Abs533b is the reading in sample with bisulfite appli-
cation and DF is dilution factor.
Antioxidant activity was determined according to the method of
Cam et al. (2009); 0.1 mL of samples was mixed with 0.9 mL of
100 mM TriseHCl buffer (pH 7.4) to which 1 mL of DPPH (0.500 mM
in ethanol) was added. The control sample was prepared in similar
way by adding 0.1 mL of water instead of sample. The mixtures
were shaken vigorously and left to stand for 30 min. Absorbance of
the resulting solution was measured at 517 nm by a Unico UV-2100
UVevis spectrophotometer (South Brunswick, USA). The reaction
mixture without DPPH was used for the background correction. The
Equation (5) was applied to assess the antioxidant activity:
. powders were highest and lowest, respectively. Higher moisture
Antioxidant activity ð%Þ ¼ ½1  ðASample AControl Þ  100
where ASample is PJ sample absorbance in 517 nm and AControl is
control sample absorbance at 517 nm (Cam et al., 2009).
The FolineCiocalteu assay was used for the determination of total
phenol content in PJs (Vinson, Dabbagh, Mamdouh, & Jang, 1995).
2.8. Color measurement
The color of dried samples and reconstituted PJ samples (L, a,
and b) was measured using digital imaging and Photoshop software
(Adobe Systems Inc., San Jose, California, USA) (Afshari-Jouybari &
Farahnaky, 2011). Color difference (DE) was evaluated based on
the Equation (6):
DE ¼ ½ðLi  L0 Þ2 þ ðai  a0 Þ2 þ ðbi  b0 Þ2 1=2
where Li, ai and bi are color measurement values for reconstituted
sample and L0, a0 and b0 are color measurement values for the
control sample.
37
2.9. Energy efficiency assessment
1 kg of PJ concentrate (with 35% gum Arabic in dry matter and
Brix ¼ 50), was used in three replica tests to evaluate the energy
consumption of each dryer (Pilot scale RW, spray dryer and freeze
dryer). Total energy consumption of each test was measured after
water temperature of the RW dryer reached 91
C, inlet air tem-
perature of the spray dryer reached 140 ± 1
C and condenser
temperature of the freeze dryer reached 40
C. The measurement
was done using a digital single phase kWh meter with 0.01 kWh
accuracy connected to the main power cable of each dryer so the
measurements included energy consumption of all parts of the
dryer (heaters, pumps, fans, etc.). Energy efficiency (EE) of each
drying experiment was evaluated by the ratio of the energy needed
for dehydration of 1 kg PJ sample (QT) to the measured energy
consumption (QM). Basic energy efficiency calculation was per-
formed using the following equations:
(2)
Q T ¼ ðmcDTÞ þ ðmLv Þ (7)
EE ¼ Q T =Q M (8)
(3)
where m is mass and c is specific heat of the sample; DT is the
temperature difference; Lv is the latent heat of vaporization in RW
and spray dryer and the latent heat of sublimation in the freeze
dryer; QM is the measured energy consumption by digital kWh
meter and EE is energy efficiency.
2.10. Statistical analysis
(4)
All experiments were conducted in triplicate and an analysis of
variance was performed. The least significant difference at p < 0.05
was calculated using the Duncan test on PASW Statistics 18 soft-
ware (PASAW 18; SPSS Inc., Chicago, USA). The data were expressed
as mean ± SD.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Moisture content, solubility and color measurement of dried
samples (powders)
Final moisture content, solubility and the color changes in
samples as affected by different drying methods are shown in
Table 1. Moisture content of the freeze dried and spray dried
(5) content of the freeze dried samples was probably due to the short
time of the process; Topaz et al. (2009 and 2011) used eight days to
freeze dry paprika puree to 4.6% moisture content. Pavan, Schmidt,
& Feng (2012) in a study on drying açaí juice using RW dryer, freeze
dryer and hot air dryer, stated that moisture content of the products
followed the order: RW dried > freeze dried > hot air dried. No
significant difference in powder solubility for powders obtained
from RW dryer and spray dryer was observed (p < 0.05) (Table 1).
The results were in good agreement with those reported by Yousefi
et al. (2011). However, the solubility of the freeze dried powders
was significantly lower. This was probably due to relatively high
moisture content of the freeze dried sample causing the particles to
stick together.
Color measurements showed no significant difference in light-
ness (L value) and yellowness (b) values among the freeze-dried
(6) and RW-dried samples and lightness of spray dried samples were
significantly higher (p < 0.05). Color measurement results for
strawberry puree (without carrier) dried using RW dryer and freeze
dryer showed the same pattern for lightness values, redness and
yellowness of dried samples of the present study (Abonyi, Feng,
38 V. Baeghbali et al. / LWT - Food Science and Technology 66 (2016) 34e40
Table 1
Moisture content, yield, bulk density, solubility and color measurement results of powders produced by spray, freeze and Refractance Window drying methods.
Sample Moisture content (% wet basis) Yield (%)
a,*
Freeze dried 8.55 ± 0.57 96.7 ± 0.3
RW dried 5.38 ± 0.57b 95.2 ± 0.3a
Spray dried 2.92 ± 0.57c 78.1 ± 0.3b
*
Different letters in each column indicate a significant difference (p  0.05).
et al., 2002). In another study, Nindo and Tang reported the same
trend in comparison of lightness of dried strawberry puree using
spray dryer, RW dryer and freeze dryer (Nindo & Tang, 2007).
Freeze dried samples had the highest redness (a value) and spray
dried samples had the lowest; this was probably due to greater loss
of anthocyanins in spray dried samples; the results of anthocyanin
measurement of the samples, support this conclusion.
3.2. Yield
Drying yields of freeze dryer, spray dryer and RW dryer are
presented in Table 1. Spray drying PJ causes the materials to adhere
to the wall chamber and cyclone (Yousefi et al., 2011) and some of
the small particles were lost in the exhaust air; but the doctor blade
installed on the RW was able to scrape off almost all of the dried
product, therefore RW yield is much higher.
3.3. Tapped bulk density
Tapped density is the mass of the solid particles plus moisture
divided by the total volume occupied by the particles, surface
moisture and all pores, closed or open, in the surrounding atmo-
sphere and is generally used to characterize the final product ob-
tained by milling or drying (Onwulata, 2005). Bulk density of PJ
powders dried by different methods are shown in Table 1. The RW
dried sample had a less-packed structure formed in the measure-
ment tube, with lower bulk density because of the flaky shape of its
particles. Because of the fine structure of the spray dried sample, its
bulk density was higher. Caparino, Sablani, Tang, Syamaladevi, and
Nindo (2013) described the microstructure of RW dried mango
puree as “smooth flakes with nearly uniform thickness” based on
scanning electron micrographs (SEM) of mango powders and stated
that “the uniformity of the flake thickness was the result of a
controlled feeding of mango puree using a spreader bar at the inlet
section of the RW dryer”. Bulk density of freeze dried sample was
the highest; this could be due to higher moisture content of the
dried product. Koc, Ern, & Ertekin (2008) also reported that bulk
density of freeze dried samples with higher moisture content were
considerably higher.
3.4. Chemical analysis of reconstituted samples
3.4.1. pH and titratable acidity
Results shown in Table 2 indicate that drying method did not
have a significant effect on pH and titratable acidity of the recon-
stituted samples (p < 0.05). The pH of all samples were slightly
higher than usual range of natural PJ (2.93e3.20 according to US
FDA/CFSAN 2007); this was probably due to presence of gum
Arabic in the powder. The pH of a 35% (w/v) gum Arabic solution in
water was measured to be 5.89 ± 0.13.
3.4.2. Anthocyanin color
The anthocyanin color in reconstituted PJ samples dried by
different methods are shown in Table 3. Anthocyanin color in the
Bulk density (kg/m3) Solubility (%) Color measurement
L a b
a a b b a
430.1 ± 8.9 89.1 ± 0.5 44.0 ± 0.9 24.3 ± 0.5 19.7 ± 0.3a
343.1 ± 8.9b 92.9 ± 0.5a 41.7 ± 0.9b 17.3 ± 0.5b 19.6 ± 0.3a
322.1 ± 8.9b 93.5 ± 0.5a 50.3 ± 0.9a 13.7 ± 0.5c 16.7 ± 0.3b
RW dried sample was higher but not significantly different from
that of spray dried samples. Anthocyanin color in RW dried samples
was slightly lower but not significantly different from that of freeze
dried samples (p  0.05). Decrease in anthocyanin color of spray
dried samples could be due to using heat in the process; Alper et al.
(2005) reported a decrease in anthocyanin color of PJ samples after
pasteurization.
3.4.3. Total anthocyanins content
Total anthocyanins content in reconstituted PJ samples dried by
different methods are shown in Table 3. Total anthocyanins content
in RW dried samples were significantly higher from that of freeze
and spray dried samples (p < 0.05). Celli, Khattab, Ghanem, &
Brooks (2016) in a study on RW dried haskap berries concluded
that RW drying method can retain above 90% of the haskap berry
anthocyanins. Maximum anthocyanin content reduction was
observed in spray dried sample which was probably due to thermal
damage to anthocyanins. Lohachoompol, George & Craske, (2004)
reported a decrease in anthocyanin content of cabin dried blue-
berries due to thermal drying process.
3.4.4. Antioxidant activity
Free radical species play a critical role in cardiovascular and
inflammatory diseases as well as in neurodegenerative disorders,
cancer and aging. Diets rich in antioxidants could help prevent
many diseases affecting not only the heart, immune system and
cancer but also the eyes (Varela-Santos et al., 2012). Antioxidant
activity of reconstituted PJ samples dried by different methods is
shown in Table 3. Antioxidant activity of RW dried samples was
slightly higher but not significantly different from that of freeze
dried samples (p < 0.05). Antioxidant activity of RW dried samples
was significantly higher than spray dried sample.
3.4.5. Total phenolic compounds
Total phenolic compounds in reconstituted PJ samples dried by
different methods are also shown in Table 3. Total anthocyanins
content in RW dried samples were significantly higher from spray
dried samples but lower from freeze dried samples (p < 0.05). This
was probably due to use of heat in RW and spray drying methods.
Alper et al. (2005) observed a decrease in total phenolic compounds
of clarified and non-clarified PJ samples after pasteurization.
3.5. Color measurement
The color changes in reconstituted PJ as affected by different
drying methods are shown in Table 2. In comparison to the control
sample, the freeze-dried sample had a brighter color (highest L)
than the spray and RW-dried samples. No significant difference was
found in values among the freeze-dried, RW-dried, and control
samples (p < 0.05). Spray drying darkened the reconstituted
product color as indicated by low L values. Overall, RW and freeze-
dried samples were more red but slightly darker than the control
sample as evidenced by lower L values. These results are compat-
ible with the color measurement results of the sample powders,
 V. Baeghbali et al. / LWT - Food Science and Technology 66 (2016) 34e40 39

Table 2
pH and titratable acidity (%citric acid), color measurement results in L a b, and color difference (DE) values of reconstituted samples from powders dried by spray, freeze and
Refractance Window drying methods and the control sample.

Sample pH Titratable acidity Color measurement

(% citric acid)
L a b DE
a,* a a a a
Control 3.45 ± 0.21 1.51 ± 0.12 31.7 ± 0.5 31.3 ± 0.3 37.7 ± 0.4 e
Freeze dried 3.50 ± 0.21a 1.49 ± 0.12a 30.0 ± 0.5b 32.0 ± 0.3a 36.3 ± 0.4b 2.3 ± 0.5c
Refractance window 3.53 ± 0.21a 1.48 ± 0.12a 28.3 ± 0.5c 32.6 ± 0.3a 34.3 ± 0.4c 5.1 ± 0.5b
Spray dried 3.68 ± 0.21a 1.37 ± 0.12a 26.7 ± 0.5d 29.7 ± 0.3b 33.0 ± 0.4d 7.0 ± 0.5a
*
Different letters in each column indicate a significant difference (p  0.05).

Table 3
Anthocyanin color, total anthocyanins content, antioxidant activity and total phenolic compounds of control sample and samples dried by spray, freeze and Refractance
Window drying methods.

Sample AC TAC AA TPC

a,* a a
Control 0.387 ± 0.018 12.670 ± 0.447 16.619 ± 2.113 580.3 ± 5.044a
Freeze dried 0.247 ± 0.018b 9.017 ± 0.447c 12.656 ± 2.113b 571.0 ± 5.044a
Refractance window 0.232 ± 0.018b,c 10.771 ± 0.447b 12.947 ± 2.113b 534.2 ± 5.044b
Spray dried 0.183 ± 0.018c 7.723 ± 0.447c 9.979 ± 2.113c 511.9 ± 5.044c

AC: Anthocyanin color, TAC: Total anthocyanins content (mg cyanidin-3-glucoside/100 mL of PJ), AA: Antioxidant activity (%), TPC: Total phenolic compounds (mg equivalent
gallic acid).
*
Different letters in each column indicate a significant difference (p  0.05).

stated above. the spray-dried product. RW-dried pomegranate juice had higher
total anthocyanins content than freeze dried and spray dried
3.6. Energy efficiency samples and higher total phenolic compounds than spray dried
samples. The color alterations in dried samples depended on the
Overall energy efficiencies of the drying methods compared in drying method and Refractance Window drying caused less color
this study are shown in Table 4. Abony, Tang, & Edwards (1999) changes in the sample in comparison with spray dyer. Energy ef-
calculated overall energy efficiency of a RW dryer in drying of ficiency of Refractance Window dryer obtained from tests was
carrot puree and strawberry puree samples 37.9% and 27.9%, comparable to spray dryer and considerably higher than freeze
respectively which is similar to the calculated efficiency in this dryer. The results obtained in this study show that the Refractance
study. Overall energy efficiency of the freeze dryer and spray dryer Window dryer is an energy efficient drying technique and has good
in this study was relatively low; although freeze drying has always quality retention ability. Although RW showed some advantages
been considered an expensive drying method, the spray dryer en- over other drying technologies, further research is required to
ergy efficiency was found lower than expected and this was prob- investigate scaling up of RW technology for drying fruit products.
ably due to un-optimized conditions of the test.
Regarding environmental impact, as shown in Table 4, the Acknowledgment
calculated quantity of carbon dioxide emission to the atmosphere
in case of freeze dryer and spray dryer was higher than RW dryer. The authors wish to thank the INSF (Iran National Science
These calculations have been made according to the literature: to Foundation) for their support.
obtain 1 kWh electricity from coal or fuel, 800 g of CO2 will be
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