MODELING OF WATER LOSS DURING OSMOTIC DEHYDRATION OF APPLE CUBES IN SUGAR BEET MOLASSES

Application of the Peleg model was investigated for predicting water loss (WL) during osmotic dehydration of apples in sugar beet molasses at different concentrations (40-80 degrees Bx) and temperatures (45-65C). Analyses of variance was used in order to find significant effects of temperature, dry matter content of solution and time on WL. All analyzed variables showed statistically significant influence on WL at alpha = 0.05 (F > F alpha). The strongest impact on WL has dry matter content in molasses while the weakest has a temperature. High values of coefficient of determination, obtained for Peleg's constants k(1) and k(2), indicate that Peleg's model satisfactory fit experimental data. By defining the dependence of Peleg's constants on temperature and dry matter content, new mathematical model for WL was developed. High values of coefficient of determination (R-2 = 0.933) and low standard deviation (SD = 0.043) show that new model describes well the experimental data.