Influence of formulation on the quality and stability of a freeze-dried Mandarin product

Consumers demand products of high quality, healthy, safe, and easy to manage. A freeze-dried fruit snack can meet this demand, but this kind of product may collapse rapidly, becoming highly sticky. To avoid this, adding biopolymers can improve their stability. Nevertheless, these biopolymers can negatively affect other quality characteristics such as the color, texture, and flavor. Therefore, selecting the best biopolymer or combination of biopolymers is an indispensable task to offer freeze-dried fruit. The aim of this study was to know the impact of gum Arabic, starch modified with octenyl succinic anhydrous, bamboo fiber and milk protein isolate on the color, glass transition temperature, and stability of some textural related properties of a freeze-dried mandarin snack. The study showed the convenience of incorporate mixtures of the considered biopolymers to mandarin puree as to ensure the crispy character of the snack, associated with its glassy state, without this having a significant impact on the product color. The best formulation was that obtained with a mix of gum Arabic and bamboo fiber.