• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Dehydrating
    • Dehydrating FAQ
    • Best Dehydrators
  • Canning
  • Shop

The Purposeful Pantry

menu icon
go to homepage
  • Dehydrating
  • Canning
  • Subscribe
  • Shop
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Dehydrating
    • Canning
    • Subscribe
    • Shop
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • ×

    The Purposeful Pantry » Dehydrating

    Author: Darcy Baldwin • Published: Jul 22, 2021 · Modified: May 10, 2022

    How to Pretreat Fruit for Dehydrating

    Pretreat fruits for dehydrating to prevent browning (oxidation), save nutrition and create beautifully flavored dried fruit. These easy treatments will get you started in no time!

    Have you ever tried to dehydrate bananas and they turned dark? Or apples that sit on your counter for 2.0 seconds after you cut them and begin to take on that sickly brown color?

    Variety of fruits on a wooden surface

    That's oxidation. This is an enzymatic process that is caused when the cell walls of the fruit are broken from cutting or tearing, and the skin darkens.

    And while the fruit isn't ruined, it's not as visually appealing. But there are things to do to help prevent it, especially for dehydrating!

    Or, have you ever wondered why your dehydrated cranberries never taste like the ones you purchase in the store? Those commercial cranberries have usually been pretreated with a sugar solution to help the final product taste less bitter, and have a softer texture.

    What fruits are prone to oxidation?

    • Apples
    • Avocados
    • Bananas
    • Peaches
    • Pears

    Potatoes, broccoli, and cauliflower are also prone to oxidation, which is when blanching is recommended for those vegetables that need to be protected. However, people

    Ways to Pretreat Fruit for Dehydrating

    While pretreating fruit is helpful, not all fruit needs to be pretreated for oxidation, but some benefit from pretreatment to make it softer and sweeter, or to help cut dehydrating times (and stop case hardening).

    Lemon Juice Pretreatment

    This is the most common pretreatment for preventing oxidation in fruits.

    However, using any fruit juice that contains a high amount of normally occurring citric acid is a great way to change the flavor profile, as well.

    • Use 1 Cup of lemon or lime juice to 1 Qt of water.
    • Or spray straight juice onto fruit with a spray bottle

    You can use lemon, lime, pineapple, grapefruit, or oranges (lemons are most popular). If using pineapple or orange, using undiluted is better than a solution.

    And yes, you can use the bottled concentrated lemon juice (not lemonade concentrate).

    Citric Acid Bath (Ascrobic Acid)

    ● Citric Acid - 2 teaspoon to 1 QT water
    ● Ascorbic Acid - 2 teaspoon to 1 QT water
    ● Vitamin C Tablets - 10000mg crushed to 1 QT water
    After creating your solution, soak your fruit for up to five minutes, and pat dry with a tea towel or paper towel.

    Alternatively, you can use Fruit Fresh sprinkled onto the fruit without the addition of extra liquid.

    Using Citrus Sodas

    While not as effective as its more natural counterparts, undiluted lemon/lime soda can be used to help pretreat fruit if you are in a pinch. Allow the fruit to soak for five to ten minutes, then pat dry.

    Pectin as a Pretreatment for Fruit

    This is the same pectin as you would use for making jams and jellies.

    1.75 oz (1 box) or 6 tablespoons + 1 C of water in a saucepan

    1. Boil for one minute stirring constantly
    2. Add ½ C sugar, stir until sugar has dissolved
    3. Mix with 1 C water and cool.
    4. Add enough to glaze the fruit
    5. Drain fruit and dry per directions for the fruit.

    Honey Dip

    • ½ C honey to 1 Qt lukewarm water
    1. Dip fruit
    2. Drain and dry

    Sulfite Dip

    I don’t recommend a sulfite solution because of the risk of allergic reactions from people which can be extreme. While it only affects about 1% of the population, that 1% can have drastic results. Use this one with caution.

    PickYourOwn.org has a great tutorial on using a sulfite dip to try if you choose to go this route.

    Simple Syrup

    Pretreating methods for simple syrups

    1:1 syrup with water to create a simple syrup to simmer in.

    This is good for cranberries and other single berries to add additional sweetness, and help break the skins to make drying more efficient.

    Additionally - you can use fruit juice to do this simmer as well!

    Pretreating Fruit FAQs

    Does Fruit Lose Nutrition with Oxidation?

    Food loses long-term nutritional benefits with exposure to oxygen, which is why we often store food for the long-term with oxygen absorbers.
    However, even in the short-term, Vitamins A, C and E can be lost leaving food exposed to oxygen. Thus it is important that when you are processing your fruit, to do it in a quick method to reduce the loss of nutrition as much as possible.

    Do you have to pretreat fruit for dehydrating?

    Pretreating is really only necessary for color preservation in most cases. If you don't care about brown bananas or apples (which you can cover with a cinnamon sprinkle), then no, it's not necessary. However, for breaking skins on skinned berries, a simmer until the skin breaks is a great way to prep them for efficient dehydrating (though you can accomplish the same thing with a knife or skewer as I do for dehydrating blueberries.)

    Dehydrating Fruit Recipes

    Apples

    Blueberries

    Strawberries

    Raspberries

    Pinterest talk bubble to remind people to pin image
    a variety of fruits on a wooden surface

    More Dehydrating

    • Meals in a jar of instant beef and vegetable soup; one with rice, one with pasta, one with couscous.
      Instant Beef & Vegetable Soup in a Jar
    • a jar of dehydrated hash browns on a dehydrator tray of dried shredded potatoes
      Dehydrate Frozen Hash Browns
    • Hashbrown breakfast casserole on blue plate on a bed of dehydrated hash browns.
      Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole with Dehydrated Hashbrowns
    • Easy apple pie fruit leather in sheets, rolls, and stored in a Weck jar.
      Easy Cinnamon Applesauce Fruit Leather

    Reader Interactions

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Darcy Baldwin of The Purposeful Pantry.

    Howdy! I'm Darcy! I've spent twenty years learning how to stretch our budget and stock our family's pantry by dehydrating food. You can do it, too!

    Learn how I can help you →

    You can get my new book, Dehydrating Basics & Journal to help you get started on your dehydrating journey!

    Dehydrating Basics & Journal for Beginners and Beyond front cover
    • YouTube
    • Facebook
    • Pinterest
    • Instagram

    Most Popular

    • 3 meal in a jar mixes
      Best Meals in a Jar Recipes
    • Fruits and vegetables in a suitcase for a post on how to dehydrate produce
      200 Best Dehydrating Recipes for Fruits and Vegetables
    • Zucchini on grass
      8 Ways to Dehydrate Zucchini
    • White eggs in a paper carton on a blue wooden surface
      9 Ways to Preserve Eggs (Safely)

    Summer Preserving

    • Plate of seasoned dehydrated zucchini chips
      DIY Zucchini Chips
    • Seasoned dried tomato chips spilling from a mason jar, fresh vine ripe tomatoes on red striped towel in background.
      How to Make Dehydrated Tomato Chips
    • Bell peppers with pepper powder and dried pepper bits
      How to Dehydrate Bell Peppers & DIY 'Paprika'
    • English cucumber sliced, a jar of cucumber powder, and dehydrated cucumbers on a wooden serving tray
      Dehydrate English Cucumbers + Cucumber Powder

    Footer

    ^ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • Copyright
    • Accessibility Policy
    • How We Give Back

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for a free 5-Day Beginnering Dehydrator Course!

    Contact

    • Contact
    • Youtube
    • Facebook

    As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2022 The Purposeful Pantry by Purposeful Media, LLC. |