DESIGN AND SELECTION OF PROCESSING CONDITIONS OF A PILOT SCALE CONTACTOR FOR CONTINUOUS OSMOTIC DEHYDRATION OF CARROTS

Abstract

ABSTRACT A pilot‐scale belt type osmotic contactor was designed and installed in a continuous osmotic dehydration process to obtain maximum water removal from fruits and vegetables with a minimum contact time. The carrot was chosen as a representative vegetable and a ternary mixture of sucrose/sodium chloride/water with total solids concentration of about 50 to 55% was chosen for the osmotic solution. The experimental results showed that the optimum condition was found to require a 44% sucrose/7% sodium chloride aqueous solution with 16 min of contact time which gave a water loss of 26% and a highest ratio of water loss over solids gain (about 9) among different treatments. It is concluded that the continuous type of contactor can have potential applications in the food industry.