The quality and stability of osmotically pre-treated and subsequently vacuum dried pineapple cubes using three different solutes and packed in three different types of packaging materials on storage was evaluated. The experiment was laid out in completely randomized block design with two factors and three replications for each treatment. Treatment combinations were considered as one factor and storage interval as another factor. Pineapple cubes stored in glass bottle showed very little percentage variation in moisture content due to its high moisture barrier properties. In all treatment combination, acidity values were invariably found to increase as the storage progressed. For all three different osmotic treatments, HDPE pouch packet always showed highest acidity followed by PVDC pouch. Again among three solutes under consideration, invert sugar recorded a rapid increase in acidity than other solutes. In pineapple cubes osmotically treated with sucrose solution, the rates of decrease of total sugar content were lower than that of invert sugar and sorbitol treated pineapple cubes. The percentage decrease of total sugar content was highest when the osmotically dehydrated pineapple cubes were packed in HDPE pouch and it was least in glass bottles. There was a gradual decrease in ascorbic acid content with the extension of storage period and this decrease was statistically significant at all storage intervals up to six-month. Lowest value of ascorbic acid content (15.210 mg per 100 g initial solid) was recorded in invert sugar treated pineapple cube packed in HDPE pouch after 6 months of storage.
Keywords: Invert sugar; Osmotic dehydration; Pineapple; Sorbitol; Storage; Sucrose.