Journal of Food Processing & Technology

Abstract

Mass Transfer Kinetics of Osmotic Dehydration of Pineapple

Insha Zahoor and Khan MA

Current study deals with the kinetics and mathematical modelling of osmotic dehydration of pineapple. Pineapple (Ananas comosus), 10 mm thick slices weighing 50 g each, was studied for the osmotic dehydration using hypertonic solutions of sucrose and fructose. The osmotic dehydration process was performed using three levels of temperature 40°C, 50°C and 60°C, three levels of osmotic solution concentration (40%, 50% and 60%) with sample to solution ratio maintained at 1:4, 1:5 and 1:6 respectively. After each interval of time, moisture loss and solid gain was recorded. It was found that moisture loss and solid gain increased with increase in osmotic temperature and osmotic solution concentration. The highest mass transfer was observed at concentration of 60% and temperature of 60°C. Three models (Handerson and Pabis model, Logarithmic model and Lewis model) were used to analyze osmotic dehydration data. Among the three models, Logarithmic model showed a best fit to the osmotic dehydration data with higher value of coefficient of determination (R2).