OSMOTIC DEHYDRATION OF BANANAS (MUSA SAPIENTUM, SHUM.) IN TERNARY AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS OF SUCROSE AND SODIUM CHLORIDE

Bananas (Musa sapientum, shum.) were dehydrated by immersion in ternary aqueous solutions of sucrose and sodium chloride with different concentrations and temperatures. The temperature (2555C), sugar concentration (3060%) and salt concentration (010%) of each run were set according to a central composite design. Bananas of the Prata variety were cut into cylindrical pieces of 1.8 cm in diameter and 10 cm in length. Analyses were conducted for moisture, sugar and salt contents. Moisture content was determined by gravimetry in a drying oven according to an Association of Official Analytical Chemists method. Sugar and salt contents were determined by using high-performance liquid chromatography and conductivity meter, respectively. The results showed that water loss (WL) increased as temperature, salt and sugar concentrations increased. An antagonistic effect has been observed between the two solutes on sugar gain (SG) and on salt gain (SC), and a synergistic effect of the two solutes on WL. The SG was minimal at the minimum levels of the independent variables, and SC was minimized at temperature of 36.3C with concentration of 50% sucrose. Results show that the use of a ternary osmotic solution enhances the WL when compared with the use of binary osmotic solutions.