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A kinetic study of osmotic dehydration of

apricot using salt solutions Estudio cintico de la
deshidratacin osmtica de albaricoque usando
soluciones salinas
a

Mahnaz Manafi , Javad Hesari , S. Hadi Peighambardoust , Sodeif Azadmard

b

Damirchi & Mohammad Rahimzadeh Khoyi

Department of Food Science and Technology , Islamic Azad University , Khoy branch,
Khoy, Iran
b

Department of Food Science and Technology, College of Agriculture , University of

Tabriz , PO Box 5166614766, Tabriz, I.R., Iran
Published online: 09 Aug 2011.

To cite this article: Mahnaz Manafi , Javad Hesari , S. Hadi Peighambardoust , Sodeif Azadmard Damirchi & Mohammad
Rahimzadeh Khoyi (2011) A kinetic study of osmotic dehydration of apricot using salt solutions Estudio cintico de
la deshidratacin osmtica de albaricoque usando soluciones salinas, CyTA - Journal of Food, 9:3, 167-170, DOI:
10.1080/19476337.2010.503279
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19476337.2010.503279

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CyTA Journal of Food

Vol. 9, No. 3, November 2011, 167170

ARTICLES
A kinetic study of osmotic dehydration of apricot using salt solutions
Estudio cinetico de la deshidratacion osmotica de albaricoque usando soluciones salinas
Mahnaz Manaa, Javad Hesarib*, S. Hadi Peighambardoustb, Sodeif Azadmard Damirchib and
Mohammad Rahimzadeh Khoyia
a

Department of Food Science and Technology, Islamic Azad University, Khoy branch, Khoy, Iran; bDepartment of Food Science and
Technology, College of Agriculture, University of Tabriz, PO Box 5166614766, Tabriz, I.R. Iran

Downloaded by [UNAM Ciudad Universitaria] at 09:33 28 March 2014

(Received 16 February 2010; nal version received 1 June 2010)

In this study, the eects of osmotic dehydration parameters (salt concentration, temperature, and ratio of solution to
sample) on the dehydration rate and the quality of the dehydrated apricot were studied. Eective diusivities were in
the order of magnitude between 10710 and 1079 with an overall average of 1.37 6 1079 m2/s for water loss and
1.15 6 1079 m2/s for solid (salt) gain. The dehydration curves were constructed using Pelegs model. Increasing the
solution volume increased the mass transfer rate and hence the solid gain increased rapidly. A solution to sample
ratio of 5:1 gave the best product quality. The best temperature and concentration that had a high water loss to solid
gain ratio and an acceptable taste were 40 8C and 50 g/kg, respectively.
Keywords: osmotic dehydration; eective diusivities; apricot; salt
Se estudiaron los efectos de los parametros de deshidratacion osmotica (concentracion salina, temperatura y relacion
solucion a muestra) en el ndice de deshidratacion y la calidad del albaricoque deshidratado. Las difusividades
efectivas se situaron en el orden de magnitud entre 10710 y 1079 con un promedio total de 1.3761079 m2/s para
perdida de agua y 1.1261079 m2/s para el aumento de solido (sal). Las curvas de deshidratacion se establecieron
usando el modelo de Peleg. El aumento del volumen de solucion incremento el ndice de transferencia de masa y por
tanto el aumento de solido se incremento rapidamente. Un relacion solucion a muestra de 5:1 dio la mayor calidad de
producto. La mejor temperatura y concentracion que tuvo una mayor relacion perdida de agua a ganancia de solido
y un sabor aceptable fueron 40 8C y 50 g/kg, respectivamente.
Palabras clave: deshidratacion osmotica; difusividad efectiva; albaricoque; sal

Introduction
The quality of foodstus and their production cost are
the most important factors to be considered when
choosing a method for food preservation. Water being
the one of the main food components, has a decisive
direct inuence on the organoleptic quality and
durability of foodstus through its eects on many
physicochemical and biological parameters. Water
removal or making water hard to access for microbe
development is the main task while preserving food
(Lenart, 1996).
According to FAO, the annual production of
apricot in Iran exceeds to 220,000 tons (making Iran
as the world second producer). Nearly half of this
amount was dried. This shows the importance of
attempts for improving the quality of dried apricots.
Traditional drying methods incorporate serious decreases of nutritive and sensorial values, by damaging
the avor, color, and nutrients of the product (Lenart,
1996; Lin, Durance, & Scaman, 1998). Osmotic drying
*Corresponding author. Email: jhesari@tabrizu.ac.ir
ISSN 1947-6337 print/ISSN 1947-6345 online
2011 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/19476337.2010.503279
http://www.informaworld.com

is an interesting technique used as a pretreatment prior

to air drying as it is supposed to obtain dry apricot
ingredients, having a natural color, without sulfur
dioxide, which could be suitable for dierent applications (Forni, Sormani, Scalise, & Torreggiani., 1997).
This process has received considerable attention
recently, to reduce the energy consumption and
improve food quality (El-Aouar, Azoubel, & Murr,
2003).
Osmotic dehydration consists of the immersion of
the fruit in a hypertonic aqueous solution leading to
loss of water through the cell wall membrane of the
fruit and subsequent ow along the inter-cellular
space
before
diusing
into
the
solution
(Sereno, Moreira, & Martinez, 2001). Solute transference to the fruit during osmosis causes an increase
of soluble solids content of the fruit which decreases
the phenolase activity and hence reducing the
susceptibility of the fruit to the enzymatic browning
during air dehydration (McBean, Joslyn, & Nury,
1971).

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168

M. Mana et al.

Khoyi and Hesari (2007) reported on the kinetics of

osmotic dehydration of apricot using sucrose solution.
The osmotic solutions used there were sucrose solutions in high concentrations and hence were highly
viscose. As a result using sucrose caused technical
problems for mixing and furthermore it could increase
the production costs. In a series of published papers
(Corzo and Bracho, 2006; Khin, Zhou, & Perera, 2006;
Mayor, Moreira, Chelno, & Sereno, 2006; Sutar and
Gupta, 2007), the use of salt for osmotic dehydration
has been proposed since it has low viscosity and its ions
diuse better than sucrose. Therefore, the aim of this
article is to replace sucrose solution by salt.
Solid gain and water loss of the samples upon
application of dierent salt concentrations at dierent
temperatures were studied to evaluate the diusion
coecient of the salt and water using Peleg and
Cranks equations.
Materials and methods

The average solid content of the samples was 160 g/kg

(wb).
Referring to works done before (Azoubel and
Murr, 2004; Corzo and Bracho, 2006; Palou, LopezMalo, Argaiz, & Welti, 1993; Park, Bin, Brod, & Park,
2002) Pelegs model was chosen to understand the mass
transfer kinetics of osmotic dehydration:
MCt MC0 

Equipment
The equipment used in the osmotic dehydration experiments consisted of a jacketed stainless steel chamber
designed to work at atmospheric pressure (Correa,
Pereira, Vieira, & Hubinger, 2010). The chamber
presented internal diameter of 454 6 103 m and height
of 500 6 103 m. The osmotic solution temperature was
controlled using a thermostatic bath connected to the
equipment. The solution was stirred by a controlled ow
recirculation system using a sanitary pump.
Sample preparation and osmotic process
Apricots were cut into 10 mm slices and osmodehydrated. They were weighed and placed into
250 ml beakers (5 g for each beaker), containing 50,
100, or 150 g/kg salt solutions and osmo-dehydrated at
temperatures of 30, 40, 50, or 60 8C. Dehydration
times of 30, 60, 120, 180, 240, 300, or 360 min were
used for each salt concentration and time. The
duration of osmotic dehydration was based on
previously published works (Correa et al., 2010; Mayor
et al., 2006; Singh, 2001).
To nd the best solution to sample ratio three
ratios were examined: 5:1, 10:1, and 15:1. In all
experiments the weight ratio of solution to sample
was 5:1 except of when studying the eect of solution
to sample ratio. To determine the solid content of
samples before and after the dehydration process,
samples of the fruits were weighed and then oven dried.

where MCt is the water or solid content at instant t,

g, MC(0) is the initial water or solids amount, g, k1 and
k2 are the Pelegs parameters, and t is the time, h.
To describe a plate of thickness 2L having the
uniform initial water or solids amount MC(0),
submitted to osmotic dehydration at constant conditions, Ficks unidirectional diusion equation could be
used (Ochoa-Mart nez & Ayala-Aponte, 2005). As
described in our previous work (Khoyi and Hesari,
2007) it becomes in three dimensions:

Material
Apricots, cultivar Nasiry, picked at the fresh market
maturity (the average refractive index and pH of
apricots were 24 and 4.5, receptively), were purchased
at a local market (Tabriz, Iran).

t
k1 k2 t


WAorS

1
8X
1
p2 i0 2i 12

3
t
2 2
 exp 2i 1 p Def; A or S 2
4L

where Def,AorS is the eective diusivity of water loss or

solid gain, m2 s71; i is the number of series terms; L is
the characteristic length, sample half-thickness, m; t is
the time, s.
Allowing the calculation of eective diusivity for
solid gain and water loss based on the dimensionless
amount of water loss (WA) and solid gain (WS):
WA; or S

MCt  MCeq
MC0  MCeq

where WA,orS is the dimensionless amount of water loss

or solid gain respectively; MCeq is the equilibrium
amount of water loss or solid gain, g.
Solid gain was calculated based on dierences
between solid content of the samples before and after
processing. Water loss was obtained as weight loss of
samples plus solid gain (Equations (4) and (5)).
Then concerning the obtained experimental datas,
curves of water loss and solid gain as a function of
time were constructed and the average relative error
for each set of data was calculated using Equation
(6)
Mi  Mf WL  SG

WL Mi  Mf SG

n 

1X
V E  V P 
E


n
V

i1

CyTA Journal of Food

where WL is water loss (g), SG is solid gain (g), Mi is initial
weight of sample (g), and Mf is nal weight of sample (g).
E is the average relative error (dimensionless), n is the
number of experimental data, VE is the experimental value
(water loss or solid gain), and VP is the value predicted by
Pelegs model (water loss or solid gain).

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Results
Determining the best ratio of solution to sample
The volume of the osmotic solution has a direct
inuence on the water loss and salt gain. Increasing the
volume of the osmotic solution causes an increase in
both water loss and salt gain (where the latter is
undesirable). The results for dierent solution to
sample weight ratios are shown in Supplementary
Figure 1 and Supplementary Table 1, which were
obtained at 30 8C and 50 g/kg salt concentration. The
highest water loss was obtained at 15:1 ratio which is
accompanied by the highest salt gain. As shown in
Supplementary Table 2, the highest water loss to salt
gain ratio were obtained when using a solution to
sample ratio of 5:1. While water loss for this ratio was
12% lower, the WL/SG for 5:1 ratio was 46% more
than 15:1 ratio. Therefore we used the 5:1 ratio that
could have a better quality.
Evaluating of Pelegs equation parameters and eective
diusivity
Equation parameters and eective diusivities were
calculated for dierent temperatures and concentrations at solution to sample weight ratio of 5:1. It was
assumed that equilibrium concentration in Equation
(4) equals to concentration at time of innity which
using Pelegs equation becomes 1/k2. Then using
Equation (3), eective diusivities were calculated.
Supplementary Table 2 shows eective diusivities for
water loss and solid gain and amount of WL/SG.
Pelegs equation parameters, eective diusivities,
and WL/SG did not exhibit a trend with increase of
temperature at the constant concentration, or with
increase of concentration at the same temperature. The
average relative error calculated varied from 1.5 to
12.3% for water loss and 1.4 to 3.1% for solid gain. As
it is obvious, eective diusivities were in the order of
magnitude between 10710 and 1079 with an overall
average of 1.37 6 1079 m2/s for water loss and
1.15 6 1079 m2/s for solid gain which was found
similar for carrot, potato, and pumpkin dehydration in
salt solution in previous works (Khin et al., 2006;
Mayor et al., 2006; Singh, Kumar, & Gupta, 2007).
Eect of temperature and concentration variations on
mass transfer rate
It is expected that increasing the concentration and
temperature of the osmotic media would increase the

169

mass transfer rate but the results shown in Supplementary Figures 24 did not exactly fulll this
expectation. As can be seen in Supplementary Figure
2, where the eect of concentration on water loss is
shown, at temperatures of 30 8C and 40 8C increasing
salt concentration from 50 to 150 g/kg increased the
water loss. This eect was less clear for concentrations
of 100150 g/kg at temperatures of 50 8C and 60 8C.
This might be explained by the detrimental eect of salt
on relatively soft texture of the apricot which causes an
overall mass loss at 150 g/kg concentration. Because of
the aforementioned problems comparison between the
results for 150 g/kg and other concentrations was not
reliable. An increase in concentration from 50 to 100 g/
kg causes a remarkable increase in water loss but more
increase of concentration did not make such an
increase in water loss. So without considering the taste
of the product the best concentration is 100 g/kg but a
selection between 50 g/kg and 100 g/kg depends on the
taste that is to be desirable. Using 100 g/kg concentration results in a salty and sweet taste but when the salty
taste is not desired then 50 g/kg concentration should
be used. Furthermore the taste of products from 150 g/
kg solution was very salty.
As is shown in Supplementary Figure 3 increasing
the temperature did not always cause an increase on
the water loss. Approximately the highest water loss
was observed at 40 8C. Increasing the temperature
decreases the mass transfer resistance and at the same
time increases the solubility of natural occurring sugars
but at a dierent rate. As the salt concentration in the
solution is a low concentration when temperature
increases, the solution attends to absorb more solids
from the apricots instead of absorbing water. Because
of dierent increasing rates of mass transfer and
solubility, increasing temperature from 30 to 40 8C
caused an increase in water loss but when we reached
50 8C the overall result was a decrease in water loss
and at 60 8C we saw an increase in water loss relative
to 50 8C. Regarding these results it is preferable to
work at 40 8C to obtain better quality except of when
using 100 g/kg concentration where higher temperatures result in a similar amount of water loss.
To make a selection for temperature and concentration for the osmotic solution, between 50 g/kg and
40 8C, 100 g/kg and 40 8C or 100 g/kg and 50 8C, it is
sucient to compare the water loss to solid gain ratio
for these sets of temperature and concentration. The
highest value for that ratio occurred at 50 g/kg and
40 8C as stated in Supplementary Table 2. But if the
dehydration rate is more important than the quality of
the product, then 100 g/kg and 50 8C could be a good
choice.
Discussion
Using salt solution as the osmotic media has some
advantages over sucrose solution but has some

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170

M. Mana et al.

disadvantages too. It has low viscosity and its ions

diuse better than sucrose (because they are smaller
than sucrose molecules) but make a salty taste in the
product. To obtain better quality low concentrations
such as 50 g/kg should be used. Higher temperatures
cause more migration of natural solids into osmotic
media and higher concentrations cause more solid
gain. This increasing temperature inuence has been
clearly shown in previous works (Khoyi and Hesari,
_
2007; Sereno et al., 2001; Ispir
& Turk To
grul, 2009).
The temperature has two dierent eects during
dehydration: (i) temperature increases molecular agitation and thus enhances diusion rates; (ii) the cellular
material is quite sensitive to the temperature when it
exceeds a critical value that depends on the cell species.
For plant cells, this value is around 5055  C (Allali,
Marchal, & Vorobie, 2010). Because of low concentration and low viscosity in the osmotic media the natural
solids of the fruit can easily come in to the osmotic
solution and be replaced with salt, so it is important to
choose a temperature that improves water loss but
limits the solids gain. In this work the optimum
temperature and concentration set, was 40 8C and
50 g/kg.
Supplementary material
The supplementary material for this article is available
online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19476337.2010.
503279.
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