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Abstract
Osmotic dehydration can be utilized, among other things, as a technique to supplement fruits and vegetables with calcium, which beneficially affects their quality and nutritional value. The objective of the research study was to determine the effect of the selected process parameters (temperature, time, and calcium salts concentration) on the course of osmotic dehydration of frozen pears and the calcium level in the dehydrated material. In the experiments, 50 ºBx saccharose solutions were used containing 0.014-0.072 M calcium lactate or gluconate; the temperature of the solutions ranged between 20 and 50 ºC. It was proved that the frozen pears were easy to dehydrate under the tested conditions. In all the variants used, the dry matter content increased more than twice in just one hour after dehydration. After 2-3 hours, the increase in the dry matter content was insignificant. No dependence was found between the amount of solids migrating into the fruits from the syrup and the process temperature nor between it and the kind of salt used. In the presence of calcium lactate, the value of the gain in solids ranged between 1.01 ÷ 1.48 g d.m./g i.d.m., and in the presence of calcium gluconate between 0.92 ÷ 1.56 g d.m./g i.d.m. After the first hour of dehydration at a temperature of 20, 30, 40, and 50 ºC, as for the calcium lactate, the mean water loss amounted to: 2.43; 2.70; 2.70 and 2.84 g H2O/g i.d.m, respectively; in the case of calcium gluconate, it was: 2.27; 2.74; 2.78 and 2.50 g H2O/g i.d.m. During the same time, the highest increase occurred in the calcium level in the fruits although it was also reported at the subsequent stages. The highest level of calcium was recorded after 5 hours of the process carried out at 50 ºC with the use of 0.072 M calcium gluconate: the amount of calcium was 1808 mg/kg. Under the same conditions, in the presence of calcium lactate, the content of calcium increased to 1720 mg/kg. After one-hour dehydration, for the two salts, the calcium level was approx. 1300 mg/kg.
Keywords
frozen pears, osmotic dehydration, calcium, water loss, gain in solids