ABSTRACT
Osmotic dehydration involves the partial dehydration of water-rich solid foodstuffs, through immersion in hypertonic aqueous solutions of various edible solutes. Research in the area of osmotic dehydration has been ongoing for more than 25 years, but the industrial application of the method still is limited for various reasons. One of the most important reason remains that the structural complexity of the cellular tissue has been an impediment to getting a clear picture of the controlling mass transport mechanism(s). The chapter examines the significance of the intercellular space accessibility in osmotic treatments by measuring the ability of apple fruit tissue to absorb apple juice. It investigates the possible influence of membrane selectivity on the kinetics of osmotic treatments, as is determined by electrical conductivity measurements. The chapter explores the loss of cell vitality in actual experimental samples during immersion in 50% w/w sucrose solution at 20° C.
