OSMOTIC DEHYDRATION OF STRAWBERRIES IN A BATCH RECIRCULATION SYSTEM

Physical and chemical characteristics of two cultivars of strawberries during osmotic dehydration in sucrose and glucose solutions were investigated. Temperature was found to have a significant effect on the water and sugars (glucose, fructose and sucrose) exchange between strawberry and the osmotic solution. Mass transfer was found not to be significantly different between cultivars. Glucose gain was found to be higher than sucrose for the strawberries osmotically dehydrated in glucose and sucrose solutions at the same mole fraction, respectively. Sugars other than the osmotic sugar were found to decrease in concentration during the osmotic process. The combination of 63% sucrose solution with 25C process temperature for 2 h was able to remove more than 40% of moisture and load less than 0.1% of sucrose in the strawberries.