The effects of Sucrose/NaCl/Time interactions on the osmotic dehydration of banana slices

Abstract

The objective of this work was to study the mass transfer kinetics during the osmotic dehydration of banana slices in an osmotic solution prepared by combining sugar with salt. Two levels of sucrose concentration (50 and 60 °Bx), three levels of NaCl content (0, 5% and 10% w/v) and four time levels (90, 180, 270 and 360 min) were applied according to the full factorial technique. The experiments were carried out with three replications and the means analyzed using response surface methodology (RSM). The experimental data revealed that the water loss increased with increase in time, sucrose and salt contents. According to the data obtained the minimum and maximum water losses observed were 9.0% (at 50 °Bx, 0% salt and 90 min) and 46.5% (at 60 °Bx, 10% salt and 360 min), respectively. Furthermore, a small portion of salt was found to reduce the solids gain while the sugar content and time increased it. The effects of all the parameters were significant for water loss, while only those of sucrose content, time and the interaction of salt with sucrose were significant for solids gain. Based on Fick’s second law, the effective diffusivity of water in banana slices was evaluated in the range from 5.67×10-9 to 9.11×10-9 m 2/s for the solutions studied.

OSMO-Microwave Drying of Pineapple (Ananas comosus) Slices: Mass Transfer Kinetics and Product Quality Characterization

“…Mahesh et al [29] studied honey as an osmotic agent that increased the osmotic dehydration of pineapple slices. Mirzayi et al [30] experimented with the osmotic dehydration of banana slices using a combination of salt and sucrose. They pointed out that the higher percentage of salt results in higher moisture reduction.…”

Optimization of Osmotic Dehydration of White Mushrooms by Response Surface Methodology for Shelf-Life Extension and Quality Improvement of Frozen End-Products

“…The major advantage of RSM is related to the large amount of information provided from a relatively small number of experiments, allowing for the estimation of both the effect of the independent variables on the response as well as the possible interactions observed [ 48 ]. Specific experimental designs have been used by some researchers to study the parameters affecting osmotic dehydration [ 49 ].…”