The effects of different temperature and duration of hydration on the quality of dried date fruits, cv. Barhee

Date fruit (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is consumable in the last three stages of development including Khalal, Rutab and Tamar. Normally, part of the matured date fruits are allowed to partially dry on the trees before they are harvested to enhance their reserve and storage quality. These fruits can be stored for long periods in the form of compressed packs but usually some part of fruits on the tree become dry, hard and unusable due to loss of much water. In current study, to find out best hydration conditions, the effects of 24, 48 and 72 hours hydration at 40 and 50°C on the moisture content, water activity, darkening, acidity and firmness of the dried Tamar fruit were studied. The results showed that among different hydration treatments which were applied to improve the quality of dried fruits, 48h hydration at 40°C and 24h at 50°C had the best effects on the fruit quality.