PFE 306: OSMOTIC DEHYDRATION PREETINDER KAUR

Osmotic dehydration of fruits and vegetables

About 20–40% percent of the fruit and vegetable production in India goes waste due to lack
of proper retailing and adequate storage capacity. The vegetable and fruit production
contributes more than 30% of the agriculture GDP (Gross Domestic Product).Food
preservation is the process of treating and handling food to stop or greatly slow down spoilage
(loss of quality, edibility or nutritive value) caused or accelerated by microorganism.
Preservation usually involves preventing the growth of bacteria, fungus, and other
microorganism as well as retarding the oxidation of fat which cause rancidity. It also includes
processes to inhibit natural ageing and discoloration that can occur during food preparation
such as the enzymatic browning reaction in apples after they are cut.

Osmotic dehydration is the phenomenon of removal of water from lower concentration of

solute to higher concentration through semi permeable membrane results in the equilibrium
condition in both sides of membrane (Tiwari 2005). Osmotic dehydration is based on the
principle of osmosis, wherein there is mass transfer through a semi-permeable membrane
powered by the concentration gradient across the membrane. In osmotic dehydration of
fruits, the fruit cell walls act as the semipermeable membrane allowing the exchange of water
and low molecular solutes. Thus, due to the low permeability of this membrane, solutes
impregnation occurs closer to the surface of the fruit and not at the core of the fruit. However,
the water molecules are being removed across the fruit matrix by capillary flow and diffusion.
It is accomplished by placing foods such as fruits and vegetables into concentrated soluble
solid solutions having higher osmotic pressure and lower water activity. The difference in the
chemical potential of water between the food and the osmotic medium is the driving force
for dehydration. Comparing to other conventional methods, osmotic dehydration treatment
is a simple procedure which requires no mechanical aid and involves decreased cost of
energy. Osmotic dehydration is preferred over other methods due to their color, aroma,
nutritional constituents and flavor compound retention value. It is less energy intensive than
air or vacuum drying processes because it can be conducted at low or ambient temperature.
The removal of water during osmotic process is mainly by diffusion and capillary flow,
whereas solute uptake or leaching is only by diffusion. Osmotic dehydration prior to drying is
a widely adopted pre-treatment method because of its advantages over the other pre-

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treatments. The combined process of osmotic dehydration followed by a convective drying

step for food processing and preservation is termed “Osmo-convective dehydration ” or
sometimes referred to as osmotic-air dehydration.

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Figure 2: Mass transfer during osmosis process.

• For basic understanding of water movement during osmosis go through the link
https://youtu.be/L-osEc07vMs
• Small experiment on osmotic dehydration
https://youtu.be/9cK4WzL1rc8

The advantages of osmotic dehydration are as follows:— (Ponting et al. 1966; Jackson and
Mohamed 1971) –
• It is a low temperature water removal process and hence minimum loss of color and
flavor take place.
• Flavor retention is more when sugar or sugar syrup is used as osmotic agent.
• Enzymatic and oxidative browning is prevented as the fruit pieces are surrounded by
sugar, thus making it possible to retain good color with little or no use of sulphur di
oxide.
• Removal of acid and uptake of sugar by the fruit pieces give a sweeter product than
conventionally dried product.

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• It partially removes water and thus reduces water removal load at the dryer.
• Energy consumption is much less as no phase change is involved.
• It increases solid density due to solid uptake and helps in getting better quality product
in freeze drying.
• If salt is used as osmotic agent, higher moisture content is allowed at the end of drying
as salt uptake influences water sorption behaviour of the product.
• The textural quality of product is better after reconstitution.
• The storage life of product is greatly enhanced.
• Simple equipment’s are required for the process.
• The left over osmotic solution can also be utilized in beverage industries, thereby
enhancing process economy or it may be re-used for further drying

Applications of osmosis process in fruits and vegetables processing

Different kinds of pethas and sweets of parwal made by osmosis in sugar syrup are the best
examples of traditional candies. Dried foods, candy, dehydrated vegetables are the main
industrial applications of osmotic dehydration. Some researchers already described that
osmotic dehydration could be very much beneficial for aonla, banana, jackfruit, sapota,
mango, guava, papaya (tooti-fruiti), pineapple, ginger, carrot and also for seafood, meat. They
added that the process of osmotic dehydration could be employed in rural areas as
entrepreneurs, home scale or with NGO’s (Non-Government Organizations) at commercial
level since it is economical.

Factors affecting osmotic dehydration process

• Types of Osmotic Agents
The most commonly used osmotic agents are sucrose for fruits and sodium chloride for
vegetables, fish, and meat. Other osmotic agents include glucose, fructose, lactose, dextrose,
maltose, polysaccharide, maltodextrin, corn starch syrup, whey, sorbitol, ascorbic acid, citric
acid, calcium chloride, and combinations of these osmotic agents. Sugar solution reduces
browning by preventing oxygen entrance, provides stability to pigments and helps retain
volatile compounds during drying of osmotically treated materials. Osmotic agent or
combination of more than one osmotic agents are applicable in osmotic dehydration. Osmotic

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agent must be effective, convenient, non-toxic and have a good taste. It should be readily
dissolved to form a high concentrated solution and not react with the product also price
should be low.
Table 1: Uses and advantages of some osmotic agents.
Name Uses Advantages
Sodium chloride Mainly meats and High aw depression capacity
vegetables Solutions up
to 10%
Sucrose Mainly fruits Reduces browning and increases
retention of volatiles
Lactose Mainly fruits Partial substitution of sucrose
Glycerol Fruits and vegetables Improves texture
Combination Fruits, vegetables and Adjusted sensory
meats characteristics, combines high
aw depression capability of salts
with high water removal
capacity of sugar
Honey Fruits Recently, honey has been used
to enhance the osmotic
dehydration process. Honey
sugar consists of fructose,
glucose, maltose, sucrose and
other carbohydrate. In
comparison to single sugar
solutions, honey solution has a
high osmotic pressure, thereby
permits rapid water diffusion.

• Concentration of Osmotic Solution

The concentration of osmotic agent plays an important role in osmotic dehydration. Increased
solution concentration resulted in the increase in the osmotic pressure gradients and higher
water loss (Phisut, 2012). During extended osmotic treatment, the increase of solute
concentrations results in the increase in water loss and solid gain rates. Less concentrated
sucrose solution leads to minimal loss of water and solid gain ratios. In general, syrup strength
in the range of 60 to 70 ⁰Brix has been found to be optimum.

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• Temperature of Osmotic Solution

The rate of osmosis is markedly affected by temperature. This is the most important
parameter influencing the kinetics of water loss and solute gain. Water loss increases with
increase in temperature, whereas solid gain is less affected by temperature. In the case of
high temperature, the solute cannot diffuse as easily as water through the cell membrane,
and thus the approach to osmotic equilibrium is achieved primarily by flow of water from the
cell. Although the rate increased with temperature, it was limited up to 60 ⁰C as higher
temperature destroyed the cell membranes.
• Properties of Solute Used in Osmosis
The osmotic process is affected by the physicochemical properties of the solutes employed.
These differences arise mainly from differences in molecular weight, ionic state, and solubility
of solute in water. According to the principle of osmosis, the rate of water loss from the fruit
to the syrup having a large molecular weight solute is lower than that of syrup having small
molecular weight solutes when both syrups are at the same mass concentration. This is due
to low vapour pressure of the syrup having low molecular weight solute. The pH of the syrup
can also affect the osmotic process. Acidification increases the rate of water removal by
changes in tissue properties and consequential changes in the texture of fruits and
vegetables.
• Agitation of Osmotic Solution
Agitation is indeed one of the key factors and an adequate level of agitation ensures
minimization or elimination of liquid-side mass transfer resistance and constant driving force
(Rastogi et al. 2002). The use of highly concentrated viscous sugar solutions creates major
problems such as floating of food pieces, hindering the contact between food material and
the osmotic solution, causing a reduction in the mass transfer rates. Thus, to enhance mass
transfer and to prevent the formation of a dilute solution film around the samples, agitation
or stirring process can be applied during osmotic dehydration.
• Material Geometry
Osmotic concentration behaviour depends on the geometry of sample pieces, due to the
variation of surface area per unit volume (or mass), and diffusion length of water and solutes
involved in mass transport. It was found that mass loss was about 1.3 times higher when apple
slice thickness decreased from 10 to 5 mm.

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• Physicochemical Properties of Food Materials

The chemical composition (protein, carbohydrate, fat, and salt), physical structure (porosity,
arrangement of the cells, fiber orientation, and skin), and pretreatments may affect the
kinetics of osmosis in food. For example a steam-blanching step for 4 min before osmosis gave
lower water loss and higher solid gain when applied to fresh potato slices. Also, Soft-textured
fish tend to absorb salt faster than tough or firm-textured fish. Frozen flesh absorbs negligible
salt, thus need thawing. Moreover, geometrical shapes of fish having different thickness and
width along the length also contribute to the difficulty in controlling the salting process and
cause non uniform salt distribution.
• Operating Pressure and Other Forces
Vacuum osmotic dehydration results in a change of behaviour of mass transfer in fruit sugar
or salt solution systems. Vacuum treatments intensify the capillary flow and increase water
transfer, but have no influence on solute uptake. The total water transfer results from a
combination of traditional diffusion and capillary flow, and is affected by the porosity or void
fraction of the fruit. The reduction in pressure causes the expansion and escape of gas
occluded in the pores, and pores can be occupied by osmotic solution, thus increasing mass
transfer rate.

Problems in Applying the Osmotic Dehydration Process in the Food Industry

• Product Sensory Quality

A main disadvantage of the osmotic process is that it may increase the saltiness (or sweetness)
or decrease the acidity of the product, which may not be desired in some cases. This can be
avoided by controlling the solute diffusion and optimizing the process to improve the sensory
assessment of the product. Adequate protective edible coating enriched with specific
additives could be developed by osmotic process, which reduces surface microbial growth
and provides other barrier (such as moisture, oxygen) properties during storage.
• Syrup Management
The microbial validation of the process for long-time operation and reuse of the syrup by
recycling are important factors for industrial applications. The management of syrup is a
major challenge to make the process industrially viable. These include syrup composition and
concentration, syrup recycling, solute addition, reuse of the syrup, and waste disposal. The
cost of the syrup is a key factor for the success of the process. The compositional changes

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related to leaching from the fruit or vegetable may influence the product quality (color, acids,
sugar, minerals, and vitamins). Microbial contamination can increase with the number of
times the syrup is recycled.
• Process Control and Design
Inadequate information about the experiments presented in the literature and limited data
available have precluded effective design and control of this process by the food industry.
Further studies are necessary to get a clear understanding of the variation of equilibrium and
rate constants with process variables and characteristics of the food materials.
Table 1:Effect of Different Osmotic Dehydration Parameters on various fruits and
vegetables.
Product Osmotic agent Results Reference
conditions
Pumpkin 50 and 65% Blanching affected color of pumpkin, Silva et.al.,
sucrose whereas osmotic dehydration did not (2011)
change it significantly. However,
osmotic dehydration maintained or
even increased the tissue firmness
compared to blanched samples.
Beetroot 20-60% The optimum conditions (temperature Manivannan
(Sugar), 25-45 33.64 ⁰C, time 115.37 min, sugar conc. and Rajasimman
⁰C 27.71%, and solution-to-sample ratio (2011)
17.5:1) resulted in water loss, solid
gain, and weight reduction.
Carrot 30-60% In the case of blanched carrot, Sutar and
(sucrose),25- increases in sucrose concentration Prasad
62.5 ⁰C) and time resulted in an increase in (2011a,b)
mass transfer, whereas solution
temperature affected solids gain
adversely.
Mango 40-60 ⁰Brix Maximum water loss (>25%) and Azoubel and
(sucrose), 30- minimized incorporation of solids Silva (2008)
50 ⁰C (<6%) so that the product resemble
non processed fruit was obtained
when 44% (w/w) sucrose solution at
38 ⁰C for 80 min was used
Apple 2.5 M (sugar), Internal changes and kinetics of Derossi et al.
25 ⁰C moisture change during osmotic (2008)
dehydration of apples resulted in
increase in diffusion coefficient of
water. The dehydration front moved
from the surface to the core and

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moisture transport process took place

through layers of cells
Banana 60-70% Higher concentrations of sodium Waliszewski et
Sucrose, 50-60 metabisulfite (>200 ppm) and 4- al. (2007)
⁰C, pH 6-8 hexylresorcinol (>50 ppm) are
required to control polyphenoloxidase
(PPO) activity during osmotic drying of
banana slices.
Tomato 65% sucrose, The treatment had no effect on the Tonon et al.
10% salt+55% carotenoid content, and can be (2007)
sucrose, 20-40 considered as an efficient method,
C allowing for water removal without
changing the nutritive value
Watermelon Sucrose Mass transfer during osmotic Falade et al.
solutions of 40- dehydration was modeled. L*, a*, b*, (2007)
60 ⁰Brix, 20- color intensity, and chroma values
40⁰C increased with increase in osmotic
solution concentration in osmosed
and osmo-oven dried watermelon.
Strawberries 60% sucrose or Osmotic treatments led to a loss in Rizzolo et
sorbitol volatile compounds (mainly esters) al.(2007)
solutions, 30 ⁰C and the extent was dependent upon
time of treatment and type of osmotic
solution.

Mathematical modelling and mass transfer

In osmotic dehydration process, there is a simultaneous counter current mass transfer of
water from solution to hypertonic solution and of solute from solution into the sample.
Soluble solids of the sample such as organic acids, minerals and vitamins also migrate
relatively in the small quantities from sample to solution. All these mass exchanges between
the osmotic solution and foodstuff have an effect on the overall quality of the dehydrated
product, i.e., nutritional value, texture, colour and taste. Hence, diffusion, osmotic processes,
flux interactions, and tissue shrinkage should all be taken into account for accurate
description of the mass transfer phenomena during osmotic dehydration. Understanding the
mass transfer process during osmotic dehydration and modelling the kinetics of process has
been the focus of several research activities. Mass transfer kinetics during osmotic
dehydration is usually based upon various solutions to Fick’s law of diffusion. The model is
based on the unidirectional diffusion between a plane sheet and a well stirred solution with
a constant surface concentration . The following Fick’s unsteady state diffusion model can be
applied to describe the osmosis mechanism:

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𝜕𝐶 𝜕𝐶 2
= 𝐷 𝜕𝑍 2
𝜕𝑡

Where, C is the total amount of solute in the fruit at time t (g of solute/100 g of fresh fruit)
and t is the time (min). The different models used by various researchers for describing the
mass transfer kinetics of osmotic dehydration.
Water loss, solute gain and rehydration ratio
The equations given by Ozen et al. (2002) can be used to calculate the water loss and solid
gain during the osmotic dehydration process.
𝑊𝑜−𝑊𝑡+(𝑆𝑡−𝑆𝑜)
% Water loss (WL) (fresh weight basis) = × 100
𝑊𝑜
𝑆𝑡−𝑆𝑜
% Solute gain (SG) (fresh weight basis) = × 100
𝑊𝑜

Where, Wo is the initial weight (g) of the product slices,

Wt is the weight (g) of the product slices after osmotic dehydration for time t in hours,
So is the initial weight of solids (dry matter) in the product slices (g),
and St is the weight of solids (dry matter) of product slices after osmotic dehydration
for time t(h).
Rehydration ratio (RR), is used to measure water absorption by osmotically dehydrated and
dried product. It was determined by soaking 15 g of each sample in a sufficient volume of
water (approximately 30 times of weight of dried product) at room temperature for 12 h. The
slices were weighed after removing excess water with the help of absorbent paper.
Rehydration ratio = Weight of rehydrated product / Weight of dehydrated product
Recent advances in Osmotic dehydration
1. The peculiar advantage of infusing a selected solute into the fruit matrix during the
osmotic dehydration step prior to drying is an area of on-going research. The
production of probiotic-dried fruits and other functional foods is one of the utilization
of this advantage of osmo-convective dehydration technology.
• Betoret et al., (2003) developed a probiotic-enriched apple using osmotic
dehydration under vacuum.
• Akharume et al., (2017) developed a dried smoky-apple snack by infusing a
smoky flavour into fresh-cut apples in an osmotic dehydration step followed
by drying in a commercial convective dehydrator.
2. With the dietary concern of using sugar solutions as osmo-active agent, the grey area
of research will be in the development of new osmotic solutions that will increase
nutrient retention and infuse bioactive compounds that will confer health benefits.

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3. The use of osmosed fruit or osmo-convective dehydrated fruits as a vehicle for drug
delivery in the gastrointestinal system is another is a grey area of research as well.
CONCLUSION
Osmotic dehydration is one of the most important complementary treatment and food
preservation technique in the processing of dehydrated foods, since it presents some benefits
such as reducing the damage of heat to the flavor, color, inhibiting the browning of enzymes,
decrease the energy costs, adds value to the finished product, which is wholesome, nutritious
and available round the year. The recent developments in the osmotic dehydration has
reduced the time of osmosis and increased the moisture loss with controlled solid gain.
Selected References
Akharume, F., Singh, K., Jaczynski, J., & Sivanandan, L. (2017). Microbial shelf stability
assessment of osmotically dehydrated smoky apples. LWT-Food Science and Technology.
Akharume, F., Smith, A., Sivanandan, L., & Singh, K. (2020). Recent Progress on Osmo-
convective Dehydration of Fruits.
Betoret, N., Puente, L., Dı ́az, M. J., Pagán, M. J., Garcı ́a, M. J., Gras, M. L., . . . Fito, P. (2003).
Development of probiotic-enriched dried fruits by vacuum impregnation. Journal of Food
Engineering, 56(2-3), 273-277. 00268-6.
Jackson TH, Mohamed BB (1971) The shambat process: new development arising from the
osmotic dehydration of fruits and vegetables. Sudan J Food Sci Technol 3:18–22.
Ozen BF, Dock LL, Ozdenir M, Floros JD (2002) Processing factors affecting the osmotic
dehydration of diced green peppers. Inter J Food Sci Technol 37:497–502
Phisut N. Factors affecting mass transfer during osmotic dehydration of fruits. International
Food Research Journal. 2012; 19(1):7-18.
Ponting JD, Watters GG, Forrey RR, Jackson R, Stanley WL (1966) Osmotic dehydration of
fruits. Food Technol 20:125–128
Ramya, V., & Jain, N. K. (2017). A review on osmotic dehydration of fruits and vegetables: an
integrated approach. Journal of Food Process Engineering, 40(3), e12440.
RASTOGI, N.K., RAGHAVARAO, K.S.M.S., NIRANJAN, K. and KNORR, D. 2002. Recent
developments in osmotic dehydration: Methods to enhance mass transfer. Trends Food Sci.
Technol. 13, 48–59.
Shete, Y., Chavan, S., Champawat, P., & Jain, S. (2018). Reviews on osmotic dehydration of
fruits and vegetables. Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry, 7(2), 1964-1969.
Tiwari RB (2005) Application of osmo-air dehydration for processing of tropical fruits in rural
areas. Indian Food Ind 24(6):62–69.

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