Effect of salt immersion, slaked lime immersion, and freezing on proximate and sensory of pineapple chip processed with vacuum frying

In this study, the effect of immersion of fresh pineapple in salt (NaCl) solution and slaked lime (Ca(OH)2) solution on quality and sensory of pineapple chip were investigated. A comparison of the freezing effect in each pre-treatment was also studied to decide the suitable recommendation of pineapple chip processing technology for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. The fresh pineapple slices were subjected to 1% w/v of salt solution and slaked lime solution for 30 minutes. To study the effect of freezing, the samples were frozen at -18°C for 24 hours. All samples were fried using a vacuum fryer at 70°C and 60 mmHg for 70 minutes. The study showed that immersion in salt solution resulting in the highest moisture and ash content (5.31±0.75% and 2.03±0.23%, respectively) while immersion in slaked lime solution gave the highest fat content (23.43±0.89%). The freezing caused lower moisture and fat content but higher ash content in all treatments without significant differences (p ≤ 0.05). In sensory evaluation, immersion in salt solution resulting the highest likeability in taste, texture and overall acceptance with 5-scale hedonic test (4.10±0.85, 4.00±1.12, and 4.00±0.92, respectively) while freezing resulted in significantly (p ≤ 0.05) lower likeability in overall acceptance compared to the non-freezing treatment except for the immersion in a slaked lime solution.