Effect of air temperature on drying kinetics and quality characteristics of osmo-treated jumbo squid (Dosidicus gigas)

The present study investigated the influence of air temperature on the drying kinetics, color, rehydration, total volatile basic nitrogen (TVBN), antioxidant capacity and texture of osmosed jumbo squid fillets during convective dehydration at 50, 60, 70, 80 and 90 °C. The Logarithmic and Two-term models could be used to describe the squid experimental drying curves. Discoloration of product was more noticeable at high drying temperatures where combined effects of non-enzymatic browning as well as protein denaturation modified the original color of the squid samples. Rehydration indexes showed a decrease while texture presented an increase with increasing air-drying temperature probably due to changes in food protein matrix. Total volatile basic nitrogen increased with process temperature. Antioxidant activity presented a decrease with temperature, especially at high drying temperatures. Results of this study demonstrated that the drying kinetics together with the reported quality attributes of the dried squid can be used to improve the final characteristics of the product.