*2.3. Drying Procedure*

#### 2.3.1. Freeze-Drying

Arils were placed in a freeze-drying paper bag and frozen in a static air freezer at −80 ◦C. Frozen samples were freeze dried in triplicates. The specimen jar containing samples were carefully taken to a laboratory-scale freeze-dryer (VirTis Co., Gardiner, NY, USA) operating at condenser temperature −85 ◦C and pressure 45 mTorr. Sample weight was measured every third hour until no change in weight was detected, which was after 96 h.

#### 2.3.2. Hot-Air Drying

Arils were dried at 60 ◦C in a hot-air oven for 11 h to achieve a 10–12% moisture content. Constant air velocity was maintained at 1.0 m s−<sup>1</sup> for each treatment. To ensure an inner temperature of 60 ◦C was reached, the hot-air dryer was switched on at least an hour before drying, and the temperature was confirmed using a thermometer, before spreading the arils in glassy Petri dishes and placing them in the drying chamber. Dried arils were packed and sealed in food-grade moisture-resistant plastic bags and stored in glass desiccators containing calcium sulphate (Sigma-Aldrich Pty. Johannesburg, South Africa).
