![Sample our Physical Sciences journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/110819/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Physical-Sciences.jpg"})
Abstract
The kinetics of moisture loss and solids gain during osmotic dehydration of blueberries under different conditions of temperature (37°C - 60°C), concentration of the sucrose solution (47°Brix - 70°Brix) and contact time between fruit and sucrose solution (0.5 h - 5.5 h) were studied, and modeled based on Fick's law of unsteady state diffusion. The study showed that all factors influenced moisture loss and solids gain (p<0.001), both generally increasing with temperature (T) and sucrose concentration (C). Based on the diffusion model, the calculated effective moisture diffusivity (Dm) ranged from 1.98 × 10−10 to 5.10 × 10−10 m2/s and the effective solids diffusivity (Ds) ranged from 2.54 × 10−11 to 2.22 × 10−10 m2/s. Both Dm and Ds showed increasing trends with temperature and sucrose concentration, and could be modeled as quadratic functions of T and C.
