The Quality of Banana Rings (Musa acuminata, Musa spp.) Pretreated and Dried by Air Fryer

The primary objective in this study is to examine the impact of pretreatments (sodium metabisulphate- SO ₂ ) and the air drying procedure on the quality of desiccated banana rings. A second objective was to ascertain the mineral content (Fe, Zn, and Cu), color characteristics, rehydration properties, and bioactive compounds (vitamin C, total phenol, total chlorophylls, total carotenoids, and antioxidant activity) in untreated and treated sodium metabisulfite (SO ₂ ) air-dried banana rings. The findings indicate that the rehydration characteristics of untreated and SO ₂ -treated air-dried banana rings were not influenced by the pretreatment with SO ₂ . Additionally, the results indicate that the rehydration characteristics of pretreatment-air-dried banana rings were unchanged. Nevertheless, the SO ₂ -treated air-dried banana rings sample exhibited significantly higher levels of all mineral elements (Fe, Zn, and Cu) than the fresh and untreated air-dried banana rings sample. The pretreatment banana rings with SO ₂ exhibited the best and lesser color values (a* and BI) as non-enzymatic browning when contrasted with the untreated desiccated banana rings sample. Samples of air-dried banana rings treated with SO ₂ exhibited elevated levels of total chlorophyll, total carotenoids, total phenol, and vitamin C when contrasted with fresh samples. Vitamin C acid is chemically unstable due to its ability to be deactivated by a variety of oxidizing agents and its status as a potent reducing agent. The findings indicated that the highest quality product was achieved when banana ring samples were pretreated with Sodium metbisulfite (SO ₂ ) prior to air drying.