A MODEL FOR DIFFUSION of SODIUM IN GREEN OLIVES AT DIFFERENT TEMPERATURES and LYE CONCENTRATIONS

A diffusion model for a composite flat plate, consisting of a thin skin of thickness o, and a thicker flesh of thickness L, with constant flesh and skin effective diffusion coefficients (D_F and D_S) was successfully adjusted to the experimental data obtained during the debittering of green olives variety Arauco (also known as Criolla) at 15C, 20C and 25C and lye concentrations of 1.50%, 2.25% and 3.00% of NaOH. the D_F values ranged between 1.64 × 10^?10 and 9.20 × 10^?10 m²/s, and increased with increasing temperature and lye concentration. the D_S values ranged between 1.27 × 10^?12 and 5.63 × 10^?12 and also increased with increasing lye concentration and temperature. Activation Energies (Ea) of diffusion in the flesh and the skin were evaluated with an Arrhenius‐type relationship. the Ea values for the flesh were 93.2, 72.7 and 64.8 kJ/mol, and 92.7, 91.46 and 33.67 for the skin for lye concentrations of 1.50%, 2.25% and 3.00%, respectively.