Innovative dehydrated snack using low-value horticultural products: Beetroot, apple and orange, a crispy combination

In recent years, food waste has emerged as a critical problem worldwide, with 17% of food lost throughout the food chain, the majority of which occurs during harvesting, preservation, and processing stages. This study aims to address this problem by developing a new snack that uses fruits and vegetables with no commercial value due to low calibre, weight, and appearance.

For this purpose, a mixed puree consisting of steamed beetroot (52%), fresh apple (40%) and fresh orange (8%) without peel and albedo was dehydrated in thin, 5 mm thick layers by convection at 60 °C and an air velocity of 1.2 m s^-1 for 24 hours until a final moisture stabilization at 4% was achieved. In this way, a snack with a crispy texture was produced, creating a chip-like snack using only fruit and vegetables as ingredients.

To understand the nutritional value potential, both pre-dehydrated and post-dehydrated products were physically and chemically evaluated, and in its final form, the product has 4.29 g/100 g protein, 0.23 g/100 g salt, 0.4 g/100 g fat, and 63.9 g/100 g sugar, of which 13.9 g/100 g fructose, 12.4 g/100 g glucose, and 37.6 g/100 g sucrose.

Sensory evaluation involving 46 untrained participants (age 28±11 years) resulted in an overall rating of 7.43 ±1.36 on a hedonic test scale of 1 to 9. Additionally, 87% of respondents indicated they would purchase the product if available in the market.