Formulation of Fruit Leathers as Nutritious Snacks: A Review

Fruit leathers offer an innovative and sustainable alternative for fruit preservation, extending shelf life and reducing food waste. This work aims to review and update the knowledge on the production of fruit leather. It analyzes their production process from fruit selection to the final product, with a special focus on formulation and employed drying techniques as well as their effects on preserving organoleptic and nutritional properties. In addition, this work gives information about the effect of additives on the final product quality. Furthermore, advances in the incorporation of hydrocolloids, sugars, and antioxidants to enhance texture, stability, and sensory acceptance are highlighted. This review highlights the lack of standardized analytical criteria, which complicates the comparison of findings across different studies in the field of fruit leather formulation and drying technologies. Promising drying technologies such as refractance window and cast-tape drying warrant further pilot-scale validation and techno-economic assessment. Expanding functional formulations and optimizing sustainability will be key to broader industrial adoption.