Abstract:

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of rapid versus slow dehydration on cell ultrastructure
and browning during the drying of Thompson seedless grapes. The results showed that the index of browning increased
simultaneously with destruction of vacuole cell membranes during drying with both slow and rapid dehydration, leading
to a mass loss of 50% and 60%, respectively. Therefore, the browning during the dehydration process of Thompson
seedless grapes was closely related to the breaking of cellular compartmentalization. Meanwhile, compared with the slow
dehydration, rapid dehydration treatment effectively inhibited the destruction of intracellular mitochondria, chloroplasts,
vacuoles and other organelles and also maintained the integrity of the cell membrane structure, and the index of browning
during rapid dehydration was significantly lower than that during slow dehydration. These results can provide a theoretic
reference for the application of rapid dehydration in the drying of Thompson seedless grapes.

Key words: dehydration rate, Thompson seedless grapes, cell ultrastructure, browning