As it follows from the results showed in Fig. 5, the water activity values after drying for all drying tests was below 0.6. Therefore,
many harmful biochemical reactions responsible for rot and mold
growth slowed down. An average aw for all dried materials was
0.501 ± 0.006. However, the cherries preceded by osmotic dehydration, and especially those with ultrasound assisted osmotic
dehydration, were revealed a significant decrease in water activity, i.e. by about 18% with respect to purely convective drying.