Water loss and solute uptake during osmotic dehydration of mango (Magnifera indica) fruits.
Alakali J. S., Kucha E. I., Ariahu C. C.
Author Affiliation: Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Agriculture Makurdi, Makurdi, Nigeria.
Journal of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Ecology 2 : 349-358
Abstract : Water loss and solute uptake during osmotic dehydration of mango fruit slabs were studied for sucrose syrup concentration (SC) range of 40-70% (w/v, sugar:water) at 40-90°C. Results showed that sucrose syrup concentration and temperature had significant effect (p0.05) on both water loss and solute uptake. Water loss increased and residual water decreased as solute uptake increased with increases in both sucrose syrup concentration and temperature. The highest rates of water loss and solute uptake were achieved using 70% SC at 80°C within the process time of 7.5 hrs. Temperature had greater effect on both water loss and sugar uptake than sucrose concentration. The rates of water loss and sugar uptake were highest in the first 1.5 hours of the process. The modified empirical model (MOM) had lower values of percent root mean square of error (%RMS) than those of Zungarramudi and Lupin (ZLM) and was more accurate for the prediction of osmotic dehydration data.