Structural properties of dehydrated products during rehydration

The following structural properties of dehydrated apple, banana, carrot and potato were examined during rehydration: true density, apparent density, porosity and specific volume. Samples were dehydrated using five different drying methods: conventional, vacuum, freeze, microwave and osmotic; after which they were rehydrated in an air dryer at 50 °C and 80% air humidity. Structural properties were examined during rehydration to various moisture contents, ranging from 0.01 to 3.5 kg kg^–1 (dry basis). The dehydrated products did not recover their structural properties after rehydration as a result of structural damage that occurred during drying and the hysteresis phenomenon which took place during rehydration. Porosity of the rehydrated products was higher during rehydration than during dehydration. A generalized structural model was used to describe the structural properties, and of the four parameters that were incorporated, only the shrinkage coefficient, which represents volume expansion, changed on rehydration.