Effect of osmotic agent and vacuum application on mass exchange and qualitative parameters of osmotically dehydrated strawberries

Abstract

Sucrose is the most commonly used solute in the osmotic dehydration (OD) of fruits. However, there is increasing interest in replacing it with other alternative sugars. Polyols are carbohydrates with low glycemic, insulinemic, and cariogenic indexes. Therefore, this work aimed to study the influence of the type of osmotic agent (sucrose, erythritol, or maltitol) and vacuum application on mass transfer and physical and nutritional changes in 10‐mm edge strawberry cubes. OD was performed with or without vacuum application during the first 20 min in a total process time of 300 min. Higher solid gain, water loss and weight reduction, and lower water activity and moisture content were observed by using erythritol solution. The vacuum application strengthened this behavior. The color of the samples was affected by factors. Osmotic processes reduced the total anthocyanin content (TAC), showing that leaching is an important qualitative flow during osmotic processes. Novelty impact statement Polyols showed good potential as an osmotic agent in the osmotic dehydration of strawberries and are a good alternative to the use of sucrose. Osmotic dehydration promoted a satisfactory impregnation of polyols in the strawberry, mainly with the application of vacuum, in which the mass exchange rates were increased. However, leaching was an important flow of anthocyanin loss from strawberries to the osmotic solution.

Use of coconut sugar as an alternative agent in osmotic dehydration of strawberries

“…OD is performed by immersing the food in a hypertonic solution, involving simultaneous mass exchanges between the phases as follows: water loss (WL) from the food to the solution and solid gain (SG) from the solution to the food. The leaching of natural water‐soluble compounds, such as vitamins, pigments, and minerals, is a third flow that also occurs, being important in qualitative but not quantitative parameters (Abrahão & Corrêa, 2021; de Jesus Junqueira et al., 2017; González‐Pérez et al., 2021; Macedo, Corrêa, Araújo, et al., 2022; Macedo, Corrêa, Petri Júnior, et al., 2022; Macedo, Corrêa, Vimercati, et al., 2022).…”

“…The most used osmotic agent is sucrose (Abrahão & Corrêa, 2021; Junqueira et al., 2017; Kaur et al., 2022). However, consumers are increasingly turning to other sugars for health reasons (Castro‐Muñoz et al., 2022), and several alternatives were reported as polyols (Macedo, Corrêa, Araújo, et al., 2022; Macedo, Corrêa, Petri Júnior, et al., 2022; Macedo, Corrêa, Vimercati, et al., 2022; Mendonça, Correa, Junqueira, Angelis‐Pereira, et al., 2017), isomaltulose (Macedo, Corrêa, Araújo, et al., 2021; Macedo, Corrêa, da Silva Araújo, et al., 2021; Macedo, da Silva Araújo, et al., 2021), honey (Khubber et al., 2020), fructooligosaccharides (Matusek et al., 2008), inulin (Kowalska et al., 2017; Palacios Romero et al., 2022), fruit juice concentrate (Kowalska et al., 2017; Samborska et al., 2019), yacon syrup (Macedo, Corrêa, Araújo, et al., 2021; Macedo, Corrêa, da Silva Araújo, et al., 2021; Macedo, da Silva Araújo, et al., 2021), corn syrup (El‐Aouar et al., 2006), and CS (Pravitha et al., 2022).…”

“…Strawberry stands out among fruits due to its nutritional richness, composed of important minerals, vitamins, sugars, and antioxidant compounds. It presents appreciable sensory characteristics, such as attractive color, aroma, flavor, and low caloric value (Basu et al., 2014; Giampieri et al., 2014; Macedo, Corrêa, Araújo, et al., 2022; Macedo, Corrêa, Petri Júnior, et al., 2022; Macedo, Corrêa, Vimercati, et al., 2022). These characteristics make strawberries one of the most consumed fruits, whether fresh or in derived products (Guazi et al., 2019).…”

“…Previous studies have demonstrated that OD reduces the moisture content (MC) and the water activity and increases the shelf life of strawberries (Amami et al., 2017; Gamboa‐Santos & Campañone, 2019; Jiang et al., 2021; Macedo, Corrêa, Araújo, et al., 2022). However, OD is a countercurrent diffusion process, where the solute incorporation flow is a disadvantage due to its undesirable health effects (Abrahão & Corrêa, 2021; de Jesus Junqueira et al., 2017).…”

Optimization of Osmotic Dehydration of White Mushrooms by Response Surface Methodology for Shelf-Life Extension and Quality Improvement of Frozen End-Products

“…The common dehydrating agents used are sucrose (in fruits) [ 16 , 17 , 18 ] and sodium chloride (in vegetables) [ 19 , 20 , 21 ]; however, the use of multi component osmotic solutions is recently demonstrated to offer important advantages [ 22 ]. Such alternative agents include erythritol, maltitol, and xylitol because of their reduced risk of dental caries and low caloric, glycemic, and insulinemic indices [ 23 ]; glycerol and sorbitol due to their ability to induce a higher level of dehydration; sorbitol and mannose for their potential prebiotic advantages [ 24 ]; maltodextrin because it has been shown to improve mass transfer and water activity decrease; and trehalose, which has a protective role during drying [ 25 ].…”