Optimization of the osmotic dehydration process of plums (Prunus Salicina Lindl.) in solutions enriched with inulin, using response surface methodology

Abstract

The objective of this work was to study the effect of an osmotic solution (containing water, glycerol and inulin) on water loss (WL), weight reduction (WR), inulin gain (INU), glycerol gain (GLY), water activity, colour parameters and mechanical properties of dehydrated plum. Only the second-degree polynomial model obtained using response surface methodology for WL, WR, INU and GLY proved appropriate for predicting experimental data. The optimum proportions were 522 g water, 219 g glycerol and 100 g inulin, which produced WL, WR, INU and GLY values of approximately 30% and 29%, and 119 mg/g and 373 mg/g, respectively.

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