Hygroscopic study of Moroccan Apricot varieties under isothermal conditions for a better conservation

Abstract

Apricots offer diverse health benefits, making them a valuable component of an attractive diet. In addition to ensuring the physicochemical and microbiological stability during storage and the year-round availability of this nutrient-dense fruit, apricot preservation, especially through sorption isotherm processes, also considers economic, nutritional, and environmental factors. In the same context, this study explores the analysis of two common apricot cultivars in Morocco. The primary objective is to determine the optimal conditions for storing and conserving the investigated products using the standard gravimetric static method at 30 °C, 40 °C, and 50 °C—six one-liter glass jars with insulated lids made up the experimental set-up. A fourth of the glass jar was filled with a saturated salt solution. Weighing 0.100 g (±0.001) g for adsorption and 0.200 g (±0.001) g for desorption, duplicate samples were precisely weighed and put into the glass jars. The outcomes revealed that the adsorption-desorption isotherms for all samples conformed to the characteristic Type II sigmoid pattern. The ideal water activity values to preserve “Aurora” and “Carmen” are 0.36 and 0.38, respectively. It was determined that the best model to describe the sorption curves of “Aurora” and “Carmen” was LESPAM. Analysis of the adsorption-desorption data aimed to determine the moisture content of the monolayer (ranging from 3.4 to 9.7%) and examine the properties of sorbed water within their porous structures and surfaces.