Effect of Pretreatments and Assistant Treatments on Mass Transfer and Product Quality in Osmotic Dehydration Process of Fruit and Vegetables

OpenAlex İngilizce

ABSTRACT Fruits and vegetables, rich in nutrients but prone to rapid deterioration due to their high moisture content, benefit from dehydration methods for shelf life extension. Osmotic dehydration, known for its energy efficiency and quality preservation, involves submerging food in a hypertonic solution to reduce moisture content. This review examines osmotic dehydration mechanisms, mass transfer kinetics, and the influence of pretreatment techniques like pulse electric, cold plasma, gamma irradiation, ohmic heating, and combinations of pretreatment such as catalytic infrared blanching and ultrasound etc. Fructose, sucrose, and sodium chloride are common osmotic agents used. Texture analysis, microstructure evaluation, and mass transfer kinetics models aid in understanding moisture and solid gain dynamics. This review provides insights into optimizing osmotic dehydration processes for high‐moisture foods, offering guidance for researchers and food technologists to enhance product quality and efficiency.