Diffusion coefficients and volume changes of beef meat during osmotic dehydration in binary and ternary solutions

Mass transfer phenomena taking into consideration volume changes during osmotic dehydration of beef meat under static and agitation conditions were studied. Experiments were conducted at low temperatures, 5-25 degrees C, in binary (20 or 25% NaCl) and ternary (40, 50 or 60% maltodextrin plus 5% NaCl) osmotic solutions. Meat volume changes during osmotic processing were strongly correlated with water loss of samples. A predictive model was developed to describe the volume reduction as a function of water loss and solute concentration. Moisture, solids and salt content were measured, and their corresponding mass transfer coefficients were calculated applying Fick's second law of diffusion. The calculated moisture diffusion coefficients considering the volume changes (1.51 x 10(-9)-2.43 x 10(-9) m(2)/s) were lower than those without considering this phenomenon (1.52 x 10(-9)-2.55 x 10(-9) m(2)/s). Finally, a mathematical model was developed to predict moisture diffusion coefficients as a function of maltodextrin concentration and temperature, during osmotic dehydration of beef meat. (C) 2019 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.