Correlation Analysis of Sensory Evaluation and Texture Characteristics of Dried Kiwifruit of Different Varieties under Hot Air Drying

To investigate the impact of variety, slice thickness, and drying temperature on the quality of dried kiwifruit under hot air drying conditions, three different kiwifruit varieties with slice thicknesses of 8, 10, and 12 mm were selected as research subjects. The dried kiwifruit was dried at hot air drying temperatures of 60, 65, and 70 ℃, and texture profile analysis (TPA) and sensory evaluation were conducted on the dried fruit. The results showed that there were significant differences in hardness, springiness and chewiness of all dried fruits when temperature was varied (P<0.05). Highly significant positive correlations were observed between hardness and gumminess and chewiness (r=0.898~0.991, P<0.01), as well as between gumminess and chewiness (r=0.944~0.968, P<0.01). The histomorphology of all dried fruits showed significant difference in thickness variation (P<0.05), and the hardness, taste and overall score showed significant or highly significant positive correlation (r=0.797~0.981, P<0.05 or P<0.01). There was also a significant or highly significant positive correlation between hardness and taste (r=0.757~0.865, P<0.05 or P<0.01). There was a correlation between TPA hardness index and sensory evaluation viscosity index of all samples (r=0.557~0.778), but there was no significant correlation between texture index and sensory evaluation total score (P>0.05). The adhesiveness, springiness, and resilience of the green heart samples could be used to replace the sensory evaluation, while the hardness, springiness, and chewiness of the yellow heart samples could be used to replace the sensory evaluation. Red heart samples still need further research. In conclusion, indices that play a decisive role in the evaluation of the quality of dried kiwifruit are hardness, chewiness, and gumminess, and the correlation analysis of the index of the parameters of dried kiwifruit of different species are significantly different.