Osmotic dehydration of pineapple

The effects of sugar type, sugar concentration, immersion time and temperature on the mass transfer of osmotic dehydration were studied using pie shape slices (7 mm thick with its center cork thrown away) of fresh pineapple (Queen variety, 90% maturity). The dehydration process was performed using two type of sugar as an osmotic agent (glucose and sucrose), three levels of sugar concentration (50, 60, and 70%), three levels of temperature (30, 50, and 70 degreesC), and three levels of immersion time (3, 6, and 9 hours). Following the osmotic dehydration process, the pineapple was dried at 70 degreesC for 48 hours. The mass transfer was then calculated and analyzed statistically. Sugar type, concentration, temperature, and length of immersion, have a significant effect on the mass transfer of osmotically. dehydrated pineapple. The highest mass transfer of pineapple was found by using sucrose at the concentration of 70%, temperature 50 degreesC and 9 hours of immersion time.