Recently, much attention has been given to the quality of dehydrated products. Drying methods and physicochemical changes that occur during dehydration seem to affect color, texture, density, porosity and sorption characteristics of dehydrated product. Osmotic concentration is the process of water removal from fruits and vegetables, because the cell membranes are semi-permeable and allow water to pass through them. Osmotic dehydration process was time consuming, laborious and the product is too sweet like candy. Hence in order to reduce process time the new method of osmo-solar dehydration was taken up as new method of dehydration. Partial osmotic dehydration followed by solar dehydration is termed as osmo-solar dehydration. In osmo-solar dehydration fruits are initially subjected to osmosis by dipping in sugar syrup (osmotic agent) then the fruits are dried in a solar dryer till the acceptable moisture content is achieved. These Fruit Slices can be eaten directly as fruit slices or in rehydrated form in the fruit salads. They can be also used in ice cream topping.

The Process procedure was standardized for some tropical grown fruits like Mango, Guava, Banana, Chikku, Pineapple and Apple. The Products were test marketed by SEED for consumer acceptability.

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