An Experimental Study on Mathematical Modelling of Osmotic Dehydration of Beetroot

Abstract

Osmotic Dehydration of beetroot was conducted by using three concentration levels (40, 50 and 60 %) of osmotic agents such as sucrose, fructose and maltodextrin along with three salt concentrations (5, 10 and 15 %) were used at three different levels of osmotic solution temperature (40, 50 and 60 °C). The samples to solution ratio were taken at three levels, i.e., 1:4, 1:5 and 1:6 for all the experiments. The full factorial design was employed to determine the number of experiments for osmotic dehydration. Osmotic solutions were prepared by dissolving the different levels of sucrose, fructose and maltodextrin along with NaCl in distilled water (w/w). A magnetic stirrer was used to dissolve the contents. The fresh osmotic solution was prepared for every run. The surface moisture was removed by using blotting