Image analysis of osmotically dehydrated fruits: melons dehydration in a ternary system
Sueli Rodrigues and Fabiano A. N. Fernandes
European Food Research and Technology 225 (5-6): 685-691. 2007.
2007
บทคัดย่อ
Image analysis of osmotically dehydrated fruits: melons dehydration in a ternary system
Osmotic dehydration represents a technological alternative to reduce post-harvest losses of fruits. In this work, the osmotic dehydration of a ternary system (water/sugar/salt) was investigated for melon (
Curcumis melo L.) dehydration using image analysis. Three kinds of sugars were used to formulate the osmotic solutions: sucrose, glucose and manitol. The process of osmotic dehydration was studied and the effects of the ternary osmotic system on the fruit shrinkage were investigated using image analysis technique. The experimental study allowed estimating the process parameters of the osmotic dehydration. The results showed the advantage of using high sugar and salt concentrations for the osmotic solution, mild temperatures, and the use of the osmotic treatment to reduce the total processing time to dry the fruit. Image analysis enabled to show how far the solid penetrates inside the fruit and to estimate the shrinkage factor of the fruit during the osmotic dehydration.