OSMOTIC DEHYDRATION OF BANANAS (MUSA SAPIENTUM, SHUM.) IN TERNARY AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS OF SUCROSE AND SODIUM CHLORIDE (pages 149–165)

摘要

Bananas (Musa sapientum, shum.) were dehydrated by immersion innternary aqueous solutions of sucrose and sodium chloride with different concentrationsnand temperatures. The temperature (25–55C), sugar concentrationn(30–60%) and salt concentration (0–10%) of each run were set accordingnto a central composite design. Bananas of the Prata variety were cut intoncylindrical pieces of 1.8 cm in diameter and 10 cm in length. Analyses werenconducted for moisture, sugar and salt contents. Moisture content was determinednby gravimetry in a drying oven according to an Association of OfficialnAnalytical Chemists method. Sugar and salt contents were determined bynusing high-performance liquid chromatography and conductivity meter,nrespectively. The results showed that water loss (WL) increased as temperature,nsalt and sugar concentrations increased. An antagonistic effect hasnbeen observed between the two solutes on sugar gain (SG) and on salt gainn(SC), and a synergistic effect of the two solutes on WL. The SG was minimalnat the minimum levels of the independent variables, and SC was minimized atntemperature of 36.3C with concentration of 50% sucrose. Results show thatnthe use of a ternary osmotic solution enhances the WL when compared withnthe use of binary osmotic solutions.