Journal of Food Engineering 97 (2010) 267274

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Journal of Food Engineering

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Rehydration and sorption properties of osmotically pretreated freeze-dried strawberries

Ciurzynska Agnieszka *, Lenart Andrzej
Faculty of Food Sciences, Department of Food Engineering and Process Management, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, SGGW, Warsaw, Poland

a r t i c l e

i n f o

a b s t r a c t
The aim of this work was to investigate the inuence of osmotic dehydration and type of osmotic solution on selected physical properties of freeze-dried strawberries. Frozen Senga Sengana strawberries were dehydrated in osmotic solution with water activity of about 0.9 (sucrose and glucose solutions and starch syrup). Osmotically dehydrated fruits were frozen and freeze-dried at heating shelf temperature of 30 C for 24 h. Rehydration, sorption isotherms and adsorption rate were determined for the freeze-dried strawberries. A decrease in rehydration capacity and adsorption rate was observed in the case of freeze-dried strawberries that were osmotically dehydrated in sucrose and glucose solution. Osmotic dehydration in glucose solution resulted in atter sorption isotherms than osmotic dehydration in sucrose and starch syrup solution. 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Article history: Received 7 May 2009 Received in revised form 7 September 2009 Accepted 14 October 2009 Available online 20 October 2009 Keywords: Strawberries Rehydration Sorption Isotherms Kinetic Freeze-drying Osmotic dehydration

1. Introduction Strawberries are very sensitive to chemical and microbial deterioration during post-harvest storage and handling, therefore, they have a rather limited shelf life in a fresh form (Duxbury, 1992; Parakash et al., 2004). Strawberries can be consumed fresh or in many other forms (juice, jam, jelly, dried and rehydrated with yogurt and bakery products) (El-Beltagy et al., 2007). Freezing the fruit improves its availability, but despite increased cost, the product quality is poor (Agnelli and Mascheroni, 2002). In recent years, a variety of drying methods have been tried and much attention has focused on the quality of the products obtained by these methods (Jena and Das, 2005; Matuska et al., 2006). Some studies have been carried out into the production of conventionally air dried berry fruits such as strawberries (Alvarez et al., 1995), blueberries (Lim et al., 1995) or mulberries (Maskan and Ggs, 1998) which leads to elaborate freeze-drying technology (Tsami and Katsioti, 2000). Thus, there is a need to modify the freeze-drying method so as to limit its adverse inuence, especially on fragile and delicate structures. One possible solution is to apply osmotic dehydration, which involves the immersion of fruit in osmotic solution resulting in the removal of water from tissue, and replacing it with soluble solids (Montserrat and Wet, 2003).

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +48 22 59 37 577; fax: +48 22 59 37 576. E-mail address: agnieszka_ciurzynska@sggw.pl (C. Agnieszka). 0260-8774/$ - see front matter 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2009.10.022

Investigations made in recent years have proved that application of osmotic dehydration to fruit and vegetable pre-treatment yields very good results in decreasing water content in the products, and signicantly increases dry mater content (Kowalska and Lenart, 2001). But it has to be noted that because there is a simultaneous inux of osmotic solution into the plant tissue as water is removed, the process may inuence nutritional and organoleptic qualities of the tissue (Bonazzi et al., 1996). Accordingly, the osmotic treatment has been used mainly as pre-treatment to some conventional processes such as freezing, vacuum drying, and air drying, in order to improve nal quality of products, reduce energy costs, or even to develop new products (Sereno and Hubiner, 2001). Osmotic dehydration introduces changes in chemical composition. Prothon (2003) observed that it caused a decrease in water absorption capacity during rehydration of vacuum-dried apples. This fact might be related to smaller porosity of the material resulting from saturation of intercellular space and cell walls by sugar. However, Lewicki et al. (1998) found that immersing dehydrated onion in starch syrup resulted in better rehydration capacity. So, it appears that osmotic dehydration conditions before drying are of great consequence for rehydration and water vapour sorption. The aim of this study was to investigate inuence of osmotic dehydration and type of osmotic solution on the chosen physical properties of freeze-dried strawberries. Various conditions of osmotic dehydration were taken into account. An attempt was made to dene pre-treatment conditions before freeze-drying of strawberries which could affect rehydration and water vapour sorption of dried fruit.

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2. Materials and methods The objectives of analysis was strawberries of Senga Sengana variety, frozen, about 2530 mm in diameter, with previously removed leaf stalks. They had been stored in plastic pouches of 500 g each at the temperature of 18 C for 3 months. The frozen strawberries were then osmotically dehydrated in various sugar solutions of water activity equal to 0.9 and different mass weight (MW) [sucrose: 61.5 g/100 g solution, glucose: 49.2 g/100 g solution, starch syrup (glucose equivalent DE 3035): 67.2 g/100 g solution] in a water bath (ELPAN-357) at the temperature of 30 C for 3 h under atmospheric pressure. The ratio of material to solution was 1:4 w/w. In the beginning of the osmotic dehydration process water activity of the osmotic solution equal to 0.9 ensures the same driving force in mass exchange. Additionally, the whole system was being shaken with the frequency of 100 Hz and the amplitude of 10 Hz. After the specied period of time, the strawberries were separated from the osmotic solution in a sieve, and rinsed twice in water. During the osmotic dehydration of strawberries, the temperature in the centre of the fruit changed from 10 to 26.5 C. The measurement was conducted using a thermocouple which was stuck in the centre of the examined fruit (Kowalska and Lenart, 2001; Piotrowski et al., 2004; Matuska et al., 2006; Kowalska et al., 2008). Next, the osmotically dehydrated strawberries were frozen in a National Lab GmbH (ProMaster Personal Freezers PMU series) freezer at the temperature of 70 C for 2 h. Both osmotically dehydrated and unprocessed frozen strawberries were then dried for 24 h in an ALPHA1-4 LDC-1m freeze-dryer (Christ, Germany) using contact heating under the pressure of 63 Pa, safety pressure 103 Pa, the dryer shelves temperature being 30 C. During this process of drying, the fruit temperature was being monitored by a thermocouple which indicated that the temperature inside osmotically dehydrated strawberries had risen from 30 to 25 C. Subsequently, the fruit were put into jars and stored in a dark place at the temperature of 25 3 C until the time of the planned examination (12 months). The degree of rehydration was estimated on the basis of freezedried fruit mass increase during a specied time of immersion in water. The measurement was carried out at room temperature, and the whole procedure was repeated ve times (Witrowa-Rajchert and Lewicki, 2006). For this purpose, a whole strawberry (about 1 g in weight) previously weighed on an analytical scales with the accuracy of 0.001 g was submerged in 100 ml of distilled water contained in each of the four beakers. After the periods of 5, 30, 60, and 120 min, the fruit were consecutively drained, weighed, and their dry matter content was determined (Lenart, 1996). To establish the isotherms of water vapour sorption (Kowalska and Lenart, 2000), weighed whole strawberries (about 1 g each) had been put in seven chambers lled with salt solution with water activity from 0.113 to 0.903 for 1 month. After that time, samples were weighed again and water activity of the strawberries was determined. The measurement of water vapour sorption kinetics (Kowalska and Lenart, 2000) was conducted in four repetitions for each type of strawberry using a stand which ensured continuous measurement of mass increase in conditions of constant temperature and relative humidity. Saturated NaNO2 solution was used to obtain constant water activity of environment (0.648). The measurement was carried out at the temperature of 25 1 C for 20 h. The investigated samples consisted of whole dried strawberries, and their mass increase was registered by means of the measurement for DOS computer software. An exponential equation (Kowalska et al., 2006) was used for mathematical interpretation of the obtained results:

u a b 1 expcs

where u water content [g H2O/g d.m.], a, b, c constant parameters of equation, s time [h]. Changes in water content (u) in time (s) during osmotic dehydration and rehydration of freeze-dried strawberries and water vapour sorption rate were determined. Correlation coefcient R2; mean relative error MRE (Jamali et al., 2006); error of water content estimation SEE (Jamali et al., 2006); relative squares sum RSS (Pagano and Mascheroni, 2005); and root mean square RMS (Lewicki, 2000) were also computed using the following equations:

1 s s   100 X ue up     u  n e

MRE

SEE RSS

q X ue up 2 X ue up 2 v 2 uP  u ue up t up n

4 5

RMS

100%

where s dry matter content (g d.m./g), n number of observations, e experimental water content, p predicted water content. For osmotically dehydrated strawberries, solid gain (SG) was calculated from the equation (Kowalska et al., 2008):

SG

sf mf si mi si mi

where m sample mass (g), i initial, f nal. In the ensuing statistical analysis Statgracs Plus v. 3.0. (Microsoft), Excel 2000 (Microsoft), Table Curve 2D v. 3 (Jadel) computer software was used. For the obtained averaged results, corresponding standard deviations (SD) were calculated. Statistical comparison for kinetic curves was performed with the use of Statistica 5.0 (StatSoft) software package. In the course of analysis, Fishers F-test for verication of the hypothesis of equality of means for analysed coefcients in the measured samples was used, and Pearson correlation coefcient was computed. The least signicant difference (LSD) between mean values was calculated for analysed technological coefcients considering pairs of investigated samples, in relation to the applied variable using F-test (multiple range test). For the purpose of analyses, signicance level of 0.05 was assumed. 3. Results and discussion 3.1. Inuence of osmotic dehydration on rehydration properties of freeze-dried strawberries As a result of the analysis, statistically signicant inuence of osmotic dehydration (IA-IC) on rehydration of freeze-dried strawberries in comparison to freeze-dried strawberries without osmotic dehydration (I) was discovered (Fig. 1). Freeze-dried fruit after previous osmotic pre-treatment were characterised by lower water contents after 120 min of rehydration than fruit not subjected to osmotic dehydration. It was also noted that osmotic dehydration in starch syrup (IC) caused a signicant difference in rehydration in relation to the analogical process in conducted sucrose (IA) and glucose (IB) solution. Between the two latter solutions being no statistically signicant difference in this respect (Fig. 1).

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269

water content u [g H 2O/g d.m.]

4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 0 20 40 60 80

IA IB IC I

significance level 0.05 100 120 140

time t [min]
Fig. 1. Inuence of osmotic dehydration and the type of osmotic solution on water content (u) as a function of rehydration time, for freeze-dried strawberries osmotically dehydrated. Type of osmotic solution: IA sucrose, IB glucose, IC starch syrup, I without osmotic dehydration.

Rehydration of dried fruit, previously osmotically dehydrated in sugar solution is a complex process dependent on several factors. In the rst stage of rehydration, the surface layer of sugar is dissolved, which makes water adsorption inside capillary-porous material difcult. As a result, in this stage water is kept on the surface mainly by adsorption forces. These forces, incidentally, are lower than in the case of dried fruit without osmotic pre-treatment. Later, in the course of the continued rehydration, as a result of leakage of a certain amount of sugar from inside the fruit, it is mainly the structure of the fruit that determines the degree of rehydration (Lenart, 1991). Rehydration properties are inherently linked with structural features. Tzee Lee et al. (2006) conrmed dependence of rehydration capacity on plant material structure. They found that freezedried potatoes and avocados during 3 min of rehydration showed a high degree of water adsorption, whereas in the case of bananas this degree was ve times smaller, in spite of the same conditions of freeze-drying. Erle and Schubert (2001) who investigated apples which were osmotically dehydrated in sucrose solution before microwave drying, proved the protective effect of osmotic substances on the structure of dried material, as well as their benecial inuence on volume and shape behaviour on tissue level. The phenomenon of structure strengthening of strawberries before freezing as an effect of osmotic dehydration in sucrose solution was also conrmed by Suutairenen et al. (2000). Specically, osmotic dehydration strengthened the structure of freeze-dried strawberries, which inuenced, for instance, their sorption and rehydration properties. After osmotic pre-treatment surface layers of the fruit were saturated by sugars, which made difcult for them to absorb water and water vapour (Ciurzynska and Lenart, 2008). It was conrmed that osmotic dehydration of strawberries (Fig. 2b and d) caused structure strengthening of freeze-dried strawberries in comparison to fruit without osmotic pre-treatment (I) (Fig. 2a). As a consequence of tissue impregnation with sucrose, cellular walls became bulky, while cells closest to the dried surface of material sustained substantial damage (Fig. 2b). Sucrose penetrated deep into cells, and during the crystallization destroyed the cellular walls, which explains the surface layer damage (Ciu rzynska and Lenart, 2008). As a matter of fact, glucose also strengthened the structure of freeze-dried strawberries (IB) (Fig. 2c) in comparison to fruit not subjected to osmotic pre-treatment (I) (Fig. 2a). Freeze-dried strawberries osmotically dehydrated in glucose solution (IB) were uniformly impregnated with the sugar, this phenomenon being related to smaller molecular mass of glucose in comparison to sucrose. For the same reason, cells which are close to the surface of dried material were deformed to a smaller degree. Structure of freeze-dried strawberries was investigated by means of birefringent interferometry, which allowed to discern sugar crystals as shining objects. Shining glucose crystals were present in the sur-

face layer of osmotically dehydrated freeze-dried strawberries (IB), and also in inner parts of dried material. As well as that, brous structures of glucose were observed, such as those typical for creamed honey (Bakier, 2004). This particular form of glucose crystals indicates that freeze-dried strawberries osmotically dehydrated in glucose solution (IB) are characterised by a greater plasticity in comparison to fruit osmotically dehydrated in sucrose solution (IA) or starch syrup (IC) (Ciurzynska and Lenart, 2008). Similar sugar crystals were observed in strawberries not subjected to any osmotic pre-treatment (I), which suggests that both kinds of freeze-dried fruit have similar sorption properties. Finally, starch syrup as well strengthened the structure of the dried material (IC) (Fig. 2d) in comparison to fruit without osmotic dehydration (I) (Fig. 2a). The syrup lled the cells of freeze-dried strawberries, creating a small number of empty spaces (pores). Furthermore, starch syrup penetrated the tissue to a greater extent than sucrose, but to a smaller extent than glucose. The surface layer was saturated the most heavily, though the central cells sus tained considerable damage too (Ciurzynska and Lenart, 2008). 3.2. Inuence of osmotic dehydration on sorption isotherms of freezedried strawberries Sorption isotherms of freeze-dried strawberries have a sigmoidal shape, characteristic to most food products (Fig. 3). On this basis sorption isotherms can be classied as type I isotherms (Brunauer et al., 1940). They reect the mechanism of water binding and properties of the material. Incidentally, Palou et al. (1997) worked out similar classication for vacuum-dried cookies and crisps, while Swami et al. (2005) did the same for convective-dried nuggets. Also, Moraga et al. (2004) obtained for freeze-dried strawberries a sorption isotherm course typical for products with high sugar content. This fact can be related to slow changes in the water content balance at low water activity, and its rapid increase above water activity 0.5. At that water activity level interactions between the solvent (water) and the soluble substance are linked with sugar dissolution. Actually, only osmotic dehydration in glucose solution (IB) in a statistically signicant way inuenced water vapour sorption in freeze-dried strawberries in relation to the fruit without osmotic dehydration, considering the water activity range of 0.1130.903 (Fig. 3). Osmotic dehydration in sucrose solution (IA) and starch syrup (IC) caused water vapour sorption capacity decrease in water activity aw range (0.1130.648) in relation to freeze-dried strawberries without osmotic pre-treatment (I), but the differences were not statistically signicant. Moreover, within the discussed aw range, strawberries osmotically dehydrated in sucrose solution (IA) and starch syrup (IC) exhibited lower water content in relation to the fruit without osmotic dehydration, whereas for fruit osmotically dehydrated in glucose solution (IB) at water activity above 0.328, refraction in sorption isotherm curves and decrease in water vapour sorption capacity were observed (Fig. 3). The achieved results can be compared to investigations carried out for convectively dried apples (Lenart and Lewicki, 1988). In their case, osmotic pre-treatment changed the shape of sorption curves in aw range from 0.3 to 0.7. With increasing osmotic dehydration degree, sorption isotherms have a atter course. Moreover, Gondek and Lewicki (2005), who investigated water vapour sorption for raisins and dried mango, pineapple, papaya and apricot, showed that in water activity between 0.50.7 there is a curve inexion, while with further aw increase, water content in fruit rises. As for strawberries osmotically dehydrated in sucrose solution, their water content increases for aw above 0.648, and the isotherm inection may be related to sugar transformation. With the increase of water content in the product, its crystalline sugar dissolves, which can lead to the creation of a solution of concentration

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Fig. 2. Microstructure of freeze-dried strawberries. Type of osmotic solution: (a) I without osmotic dehydration, (b) IA sucrose solution, (c) IB glucose solution, (d) IC starch syrup. Zoom 50. Scanning microscope FEI Company, type Quanta 200.

0.7

significance level 0.05

IA

0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
IB IC I

water activity a w
Fig. 3. Inuence of osmotic dehydration and the type of osmotic solution on water content (u) as a function of water activity (aw), for freeze-dried strawberries osmotically dehydrated. Type of osmotic solution: IA sucrose, IB glucose, IC starch syrup, I without osmotic dehydration.

close to dilution. Then the amount of absorbed water increases signicantly, which may be linked to a tendency to reach a thermodynamic equilibrium within the environment. An attempt at choosing a mathematical model best tting for the description of sorption isotherms was made. The ve following models were analysed: Oswin, Halsey (Akanbi et al., 2006), IglesiasChrife (Johnson and Brennan, 2000), Peleg (Lewicki, 1998), and Lewicki (Lewicki, 1998) (Table 1). An attempt was also undertaken to apply the GAB model (Lewicki, 1997), but the parameters of the GAB equation did not satisfy the conditions stipulated by Lewicki (1997) so as to be eligible for experimental data description. All in all, it was resolved to choose Pelegs empirical equation (Lewicki, 1998) on the basis of minimum MRE, RSS, SEE, RMS value,

and the highest R2 value (Table 2). Peleg developed a semi-empirical four-parameter model to describe sigmoid moisture sorption isotherms. His equation turned out to be well-tted for equilibrium moisture sorption data for ten different products at water activity up to about 0.850.95 (Lewicki, 1998). Fig. 4 shows sample graphic points obtained from Pelegs model adjusted to experimental water vapour sorption isotherm data for freeze-dried strawberries without osmotic dehydration (I) (30 C), and for those osmotically dehydrated in glucose solution (IB). Also, Lewicki (1998) applied Pelegs model to describe sorption isotherms for 27 products, GAB model (Lewicki, 1997) for 23 products, and his own model for 28 products. He demonstrated that the highest probability of tting experimental data with the minimum mean relative error is guaranteed by Pelegs model. In a similar vein, Palou et al. (1997) surmised that Pelegs model was best suited for description of isotherms for cookies and chips, because the obtained relative standard deviation was lower than 7%. Kowalska et al. (2005) afrmed that the characteristic sigmoidal shape of observed isotherms is related to the occurrence of a monomolecular sorption range in the milieu of water activity aw < 0.3, a multi-layer sorption for 0.3 < aw < 0.65, and capillary condensation at aw > 0.65. It has to be noted that this type of isotherm is often encountered with food products. The demonstrated differences in water content equilibrium may depend on chemical composition, type of components, and structure of investigated materials. 3.3. Inuence of osmotic dehydration on water vapour sorption kinetics of freeze-dried strawberries Statistical analysis of sorption curves showed that osmotic dehydration in sucrose solution (IA) and in starch syrup (IC) caused a decrease in water vapour sorption in relation to strawberries without osmotic dehydration, while glucose solution (IB) application resulted in the highest water content after 20 h of the process

water content u [g H 2O/g d.m.]

C. Agnieszka, L. Andrzej / Journal of Food Engineering 97 (2010) 267274 Table 1 Models of sorption isotherms chosen to describe experimental data. Model Oswin (Akanbi et al., 2006) Equation uA 
aw 1aw

271

Nomenclature B A, B constant of equation aw water activity u water content [g H2O/g d.m.] A, B constant of equation aw water activity u water content [g H2O/g d.m.] d k exp RT d c c0 exp RT aw water activity u water content [g H2O/g d.m.] d heat of sorption of monomolecular layer of water [K] R universal gas constant = 8.314 [J/mol/K] T absolute temperature [K] A, B constant of equation aw water activity u water content [g H2O/g d.m.] u0.5 water content when aw = 0.5 [g H2O/g d.m.] A, B, C, D constant of equation aw water activity u water content [g H2O/g d.m.] F, G, H constant of equation aw water activity u water content [g H2O/g d.m.]

Halsey (Akanbi et al., 2006)

A aw exp uB

GAB (Lewicki, 1997)

u0 kcaw u 1aw 1c1kaw

IglesiasChirife (Johnson and Brennan, 2000)

ln u u2 u0:5 0:5 A B aw

Peleg (Lewicki, 1998)

u A aB c aD w w

Lewicki (Lewicki, 1998)

F 1aw G

F 1aH

water content u [g H2O/g d.m.]

Table 2 Parameters of tting water vapour sorption models for freeze-dried strawberries osmotically dehydrated. Type of osmotic solution: IA sucrose, IB glucose, IC starch syrup, I without osmotic dehydration.

0.6

significance level 0.05

0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
experimental points I Peleg's model I experimental points IB Peleg's model IB

water activity a w
Fig. 4. Fitting of Pelegs model to describe water vapour sorption isotherms for freeze-dried strawberries without osmotic dehydration (I) and osmotically dehydrated in glucose solution (IB).

Coefcients for selected model.

(Fig. 5). Observed differences were statistically signicant in comparison to fruit not subjected to osmotic pre-treatment. The achieved results conrm the hypothesis of a signicant inuence of surface sucrose layer on the decrease in adsorbed water vapour amount, which can be related to lower hygroscopicity of osmotically dehydrated dried material (Janowicz et al., 2007). On the basis of the carried out investigations it was found that osmotic dehydration in sucrose and glucose solution resulted in the highest growth of dry mass content. Osmotic dehydration at the temperature of 30 C for frozen strawberries resulted in solid

gain (SG) in the range from 0.34 to 0.67 g H2O/g d.m. depending on the type of osmotic solution (Table 3). Strawberries osmotically dehydrated in starch syrup (C) achieved statistically signicant lower solid gain value (SG) (about 50%) in comparison to the fruit osmotically dehydrated in glucose (B) and sucrose solution (A), largely due to the higher molecular mass of starch. Differences between samples osmotically dehydrated in glucose and sucrose solutions were not statistically signicant. As well as that, it was shown that strawberries osmotically dehydrated in sucrose, glucose solutions and starch syrup exhibit statistically insignicant differences in water content and water activity (Table 3). Total sugar content for strawberries of the Senga Sengana variety after 3 h of osmotic pre-treatment increased almost three times. Glucose, having about half the mass weight of sucrose, can more easily penetrate into tissue through existing pores and free spaces (Fig. 2c). Strawberries osmotically dehydrated in glucose solution displayed a water vapour sorption kinetics course similar to fruit without osmotic pre-treatment, and the discrepancies in the process rate were not statistically signicant. Probably the directly reducing sugars, which appear naturally in the fruit, change chemical composition to a lesser degree than osmotic dehydration in sucrose solution and starch syrup. This is in accord with inves-

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0.25

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IA IB
0.2

experimantal

water content u [g H 2 O/g d.m.]

IC I

0.15

0.1

IA IB predicted

0.05

IC

significance level 0.05

0 0 5 10 15 20 25

time t [h]
Fig. 5. Inuence of osmotic dehydration and the type of osmotic solution on water content (u) as a function of time, for freeze-dried strawberries osmotically dehydrated. Type of osmotic solution: IA sucrose, IB glucose, IC starch syrup, I without osmotic dehydration. aw of environment 0.648.

Table 3 The effect of pre-treatment on solid gain (SG), water content (u) and water activity (aw) in strawberries osmotically dehydrated in sugar solutions. Type of osmotic solution: A sucrose, B glucose, C starch syrup. Sugar solutions A B C SG [g s.s./g d.m.] 0.67 0.60 0.34 u [g H2O/g d.m.] 2.24 2.26 2.57 aw 0.976 0.979 0.975

tigation made by Kowalska et al. (2008), who conrmed the differences in the inuence on the effective diffusion coefcient for water and solids by using various osmoactive substances. For instance, when osmotic dehydration of pumpkin was carried out in glucose solution, the effective diffusion coefcient of water and solids was the highest; likewise, it was similar and lower in the case of sucrose and starch syrup solutions. Moreover, statistically signicant differences were noted in water content between osmotically dehydrated freeze-dried strawberries depending on the type of osmotic solution used (Fig. 5). The lowest value after 20 h of water vapour sorption process was obtained for freeze-dried strawberries osmotically dehydrated in sucrose solution (IA), while the highest for strawberries osmotically dehydrated in glucose solution (IB). For the mathematical description of the relationships between water content in freeze-dried strawberries and sorption time range an exponential equation was chosen (1) (Fig. 5, Table 4). The following factors had substantial inuence on the choice of Eq. (1) for modelling sorption of water vapour curves in the investigated time range (Fig. 5): high correlation coefcient (R2) for freeze-dried strawberries, and comparatively low for most of the relations mean relative error (MRE) for both experimental and predicted data concerning the water content at the beginning and after 20 h of water vapour sorption.

With reference to freeze-dried strawberries without osmotic dehydration (Fig. 5), the correlation coefcient (R2) of the chosen exponential Eq. (1) was in the range of 0.9980.999. For osmotically dehydrated fruit, the value of mean relative error (MRE) was in the range of 4.189.37%, while for freeze-dried strawberries (I) not subjected to osmotic pre-treatment it was higher (13.7%). The observed considerable MRE value increase resulted from discrepancies between experimental and predicted initial water content for freeze-dried fruit. Dried strawberries were marked by similar experimental and calculated water contents after 20 h of the sorption process; therefore, it was decided to apply an exponential equation for the description of sorption kinetics. Analysing the shape of curves of water vapour sorption rate in the function of water content in the common water content range 0.050.15 g H2O/g d.m., it was discovered that osmotic dehydration in sucrose solution (IA) and starch syrup (IC) resulted in statistically signicantly lower rates of water vapour sorption in relation to strawberries without osmotic dehydration (I) (Fig. 6). At the same time, osmotic pre-treatment in glucose solution (IB) did not cause any statistically signicant difference in the shape of curves in relation to fruit without osmotic dehydration (I). Furthermore, statistically signicant differences in water vapour sorption rate with regard to the type of osmotic solution were found. Osmotic dehydration in sucrose solution (IA) caused a statistically signicant decrease in the rate of water vapour sorption in comparison to strawberries osmotically dehydrated in starch syrup (IC) and glucose solution (IB), while osmotic pre-treatment in glucose solution (IB) resulted in obtaining the highest rate of water vapour sorption (Fig. 6). Also Lenart (1990) showed that osmotic dehydration decreases water vapour sorption rate in convectively dried apples. As a result of osmotic pre-treatment, the qualitative and quantitative character of water content in the function of time changes. Independently

Table 4 Parameters of tting exponential equation u a b 1 expcs to describe water vapour sorption kinetics for freeze-dried strawberries osmotically dehydrated. u0 initial water content, u20 water content after 20 h. Type of osmotic solution: IA sucrose, IB glucose, IC starch syrup, I without osmotic dehydration. Freeze-dried strawberries IA IB IC I Coefcients of equation a 0.045 0.057 0.031 0.043 b 0.134 0.178 0.132 0.154 c 0.087 0.186 0.219 0.283 0.998 0.999 0.999 0.998 8.32 9.37 4.18 13.74 R2 MRE [%] Experimental water content [g H2O/g d.m.] u0 0.039 0.048 0.028 0.034 u20 0.158 0.232 0.163 0.199 Predicted water content [g H2O/g d.m.] u0 0.045 0.057 0.030 0.043 u20 0.156 0.232 0.161 0.197

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0.045

273

sorption rate du/dt [g H 2O/g d.m.*h]

significance level 0.05

0.04 0.035 0.03 0.025 0.02 0.015 0.01 0.005 0

IA IB IC I

0.05

0.1 0.15 water content u [gH2O/g d.m.]

0.2

0.25

Fig. 6. Inuence of osmotic dehydration and the type of osmotic solution on rate of water vapour sorption (du/dt) as a function of water content (u), for freeze-dried strawberries osmotically dehydrated. Type of osmotic solution: IA sucrose, IB glucose, IC starch syrup, I without osmotic dehydration. aw of environment 0.648.

of the difference in dehydration degree, dried apples with osmotic pre-treatment were also characterised by lower water content in relation to dried apples without osmotic pre-treatment. Their rate of water vapour sorption was also lower (Janowicz et al., 2007). 4. Conclusions Overall, for osmotically dehydrated freeze-dried strawberries a decrease of rehydration and sorption capacity in relation to freezedried fruit not subjected to osmotic dehydration was noticed. Rehydration and sorption properties were related to structural changes in freeze-dried strawberries during osmotic dehydration and freeze-drying processes. Sorption isotherms for freeze-dried strawberries both osmotically dehydrated and those without osmotic dehydration have a sigmoidal shape, characteristic for most food products. Pelegs model was selected as the most appropriate for the mathematical description of the sorption isotherms. Osmotic dehydration in glucose solution caused a fall in the curves course in comparison to strawberries osmotically dehydrated in sucrose solution and starch syrup. Strawberries osmotically dehydrated in glucose solution were saturated to a higher degree, which is related to small molecular mass of the sugar. Glucose is a directly reducing sugar naturally occurring in fruit tissue; thus, strawberries osmotically dehydrated in glucose solution absorb water vapour to a similar degree as fruit not subjected to osmotic dehydration. Osmotic pre-treatment in sucrose solution and starch syrup decreased the rate of water vapour sorption for freeze-dried strawberries in relation to fruit without osmotic pre-treatment, while using glucose solution for osmotic dehydration resulted in obtaining the highest rate of water vapour sorption as well as the highest rate of water vapour sorption, comparable with strawberries not subjected to osmotic pre-treatment. References
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