Osmotic dehydration of red cabbage in sugar beet molasses: Mass transfer kinetics

Abstract

The paper describes a study of osmotic dehydration of red cabbage in sugar beet molasses of different concentrations (40, 60 and 80%) at 50°C and under atmospheric pressure. The best results were obtained at the sugar beet molasses of 80% as an osmotic medium. The most important kinetic parameters of the process were determined: water loss, solid uptake, weight reduction, normalized solid content and normalized moisture content. The kinetic parameters were determined after 1, 3 and 5 hours. Mass transfer coefficients were calculated using Hawkes and Flink's model and the results indicate that the diffusion of water and solids was the most intensive during the first three hours of dehydration.

Keywords

• osmotic dehydration
• red cabbage
• mass transfer kinetic
• sugar beet molasses