Dataset on Physicochemical Properties, Microbiological Quality and Shelf Life Prediction of Solar Dried Mangoes and Pineapples in Tanzania.
Description
This Data in Brief article provides four tables, three figures, and their raw data (as supplementary material). Table 2 is about physicochemical characteristics which correspond to raw data (S1). Table 3 presents the mean microbial load of dried mango and pineapple samples from two different dryers before storage, Figure 5 (a-c) presents variations in total plate count and fungi in dried fruits between different packaging materials in each drying method, Figure. 6 (a-d) presents microbial loads (log10 CFU g-1) in dried fruits as a function of storage period at 28 °C. Table 4 presents a comparison between the kinetic reaction orders, Table 5 presents regression equations, coefficient of determination (R2) values and estimated shelf lives of dried samples from different drying methods and in packaging materials stored at 28 °C and Figure 7 presents a Bi-plot from principal component analysis of average physicochemical parameters, microbial loads and shelf life of dried fruits processed using different drying methods. All of them correspond to raw data (S 2).
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Determination of drying conditions before drying The incident solar radiation was measured by a solarimeter (Model SL 200, Romania). The solarimeter was placed in a fixed position between dryers and the readings were taken continuously from 8.00 am to 6.00 pm for three consecutive days. Ambient and drying chamber temperatures were measured with thermocouples (Model HI 98704 K, J and T types) via a data logger, Hanna Instrument Inc, Romania), every hour for three consecutive days and averaged. Furthermore, ambient and drying chamber relative humidity was determined using a thermohygrometer (Model HI 8564, Hanna Instrument Inc, Romania) and readings were taken at the one-hour interval from 06:00 to 18:00 hrs while the air velocity at the entrance of the dryer was measured using Anemometer (Model EA 3000, Technoline Ltd, Romania) at a one-hour interval. Fruit drying and laboratory analyses Mango and pineapple fruits were dried in cabinet mixed-mode and tunnel dryers, packaged in polyethylene bags, and kept at 28°C for six months. Both fresh and stored dried samples were physicochemical characteristics (moisture, aw, pH, and acidity) and microbial quality (total plate count (TPC), and fungal loads) using standard methods. Physicochemical characteristics; Association of Official Analytical Chemists standard (2005), moisture content by oven drying (Method 925.10), water activity (aw) by water activity meter, total acidity and pH by potentiometric titration (method 942.15.23). Microbiological quality; Association of Official Analytical Chemists standard (2005), Total number of bacteria by plate count agar, coliform by Violet Red Bile Agar (VRBA) and mold and yeast by Rose Bengal Shelf life: predicted by kinetic reaction and regression analysis approaches as described by Koleva et al. (2016) and Phimolsiripol & Suppakul (2016).