Influence of pre-treatment on the drying process of apricots

Drying has been used for the preservation of fruits since ancient times. Dried apricot reduces the damages, weight and volume losses, packaging space, storage and handling costs. In this paper, the effects of hot air dryer on an Iranian apricot cultivar ”Noori” have been investigated. The experiment was conducted at three temperatures (30, 40 and 50oC), three fruit thicknesses (5, 10 and 15 mm) and two pre-treatments (sulphur dioxide and water soluble sodium meta-bisulphite (Na2S2O5)). Based on the analysis of variance, the effects of temperature, thickness, pre-treatment and their interactions on drying time were significant (P