Improved dehydration performance of tofu protein by ionizing irradiation pretreatment

Food waste has a high utilization value, but its high moisture content brings more disadvantages to its storage, transportation and energy utilizations. Dehydration of food waste is conducive to subsequent treatment, and herein, the effects of ionizing radiation pretreatment on the dehydration performance of tofu protein waste were examined. The mechanical centrifugation dehydration, moisture distribution, bond energy (Hb), drying time, and drying rate indicated that ionizing radiation pretreatment significantly enhanced the supernatant volume, free water content, and drying rate, while reducing Hb and drying time. Moreover, the mechanism underlying the enhanced dehydration performance was discussed based on particle size analysis, Scanning electron microscope, UV–vis spectroscopy and pH value.