| Abstract
| - The behavior of 16 volatile compounds of banana during a combination of air-drying (AD) and vacuummicrowave-drying (VMD) of banana chips was characterized. Samples were AD to remove 60, 70,80, or 90% of moisture (wet basis) and then subjected to VMD to achieve a final moisture content of3% (dry basis). Banana slices were also dehydrated using only AD, VMD, and freeze-drying (FD) forcomparison. Samples that underwent more VMD had significantly lower levels of volatile compounds,which is attributed to the decreased formation of an impermeable solute layer on the surface of thechips. High values for water solubility and relative volatility of compounds correlated with losses duringVMD; however, additional factors appear to influence the behavior of compounds during VMDprocessing. The optimal process of 90%AD/10%VMD yielded crisper banana chips with significantlyhigher volatile levels and sensory ratings than AD chips. Keywords: Vacuum microwave; dehydration; air-drying; banana chips; flavor volatiles; mechanism;crispness; sensory evaluation
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