THE USE OF PELEGS EQUATION TO MODEL OSMOTIC CONCENTRATION OF PAPAYA

A two parameter non exponential model was recently proposed by Peleg to describe moisture sorption curves. This study was designed to examine the predictive capacity of the model for osmotic concentration data and to further investigate the characteristics of the parameters in the equation. The equation was used to model the kinetics of water removal and solute uptake, in terms of moisture content (MC) and soluble solids (SS) respectively, during the osmotic concentration of papaya. The model fitted the experimental observations accurately, with regression coefficients that varied from 0.982 to 0.997 and from 0.976 to 0.996 for MC and SS respectively, and with maximum root-mean-square deviations of 0.6 g water/100g and 0.5-degrees Brix, for moisture content and soluble solids respectively. An inverse relationship was found between k2 parameter and syrup concentration as well with MC and SS.