The use of conventional drying methods for dehydrating vegetables and fruits with high sugar, amino acid, and moisture content is not feasible. Under extreme conditions, drying reduces the amount of functional ingredients present in these vegetables and fruits. Recently, there has been an increasing demand for powdered tomatoes because of their nutritional and functional components. This study aimed to evaluate tomato drying under normal pressure and low-temperature conditions, to efficiently reduce water content without compromising on product quality. A convection dryer, most widely used in food factories, was used in this study. This equipment uses a low temperature zone not normally used for drying, and processes the raw material to increase the drying area for rapid drying. The proposed method was validated by comparing the moisture and functional component contents, and the antioxidant activity of the dried product with those of the dried product obtained via freeze-drying. The results suggest that the proposed low-temperature drying method can produce functional dried food at food processing sites faster than using freeze-drying, with a residual rate of functional ingredients exceeding 90 %. Thus, low-temperature drying can be used as a simple and cost-effective method for the production of uniform dry tomato powder. Show less

The study's goal was to determine the total phenolics, total flavonoids, and antioxidant activity of A. mexicana aerial parts. Extracts were prepared using different solvents namely n-hexane, ethyl acetate, acetone, methanol, and water on basis of increasing polarity using soxhlet appratus. Aqueous extract from the flower contained the highest level of total phenolics, followed by that of the stem and leaves. The flower methanol extract was found to contain the most total flavonoids. With IC50 values of 24.98 g/ml in acetone extract, the stem component demonstrated the most DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) free radical scavenging activity, followed by leaves with IC50 values of 36.29 g/ml in hexane extract and flowers with IC50 values of 38.33 g/ml in acetone extract. FTIR analysis showed that the presence of phenols and flavanoids. In different solvents, the DPPH free radical scavenging activity of aerial portions of A. mexicana varied greatly, and it increased with increasing concentration levels. In terms of antioxidant potency, higher amounts of total phenolics in aqueous extract, total flavonoids in methanol extract, and acetone extract were shown to be the most potent antioxidant. The aerial parts of A. mexicana have a considerable amount of flavanoids, phenolics, and antioxidant activity. Show less