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# 2004 Institution of Chemical Engineers
www.ingentaselect.com=titles=09603085.htm Trans IChemE, Part C, March 2004
Food and Bioproducts Processing, 82(C1): 44–48

MASS TRANSFER DURING OSMOTIC DEHYDRATION

Determination of Moisture and Solute Diffusion
Coefficients from Concentration Profiles
N. K. RASTOGI and K. S. M. S. RAGHAVARAO*
Department of Food Engineering, Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore, India

M
ass transfer during osmotic dehydration was studied. The effective diffusion
coefficients for water and solute diffusion were determined assuming osmotic
dehydration to be governed by Fickian diffusion. Solution of Fick’s law for
unsteady-state mass transfer was used to estimate the effective diffusion coefficients. The
average effective diffusion coefficients (De) obtained by this method could predict the moisture
(r2 ¼ 0.95) and solid (r2 ¼ 0.96) content to a sufficient accuracy. A high degree of correlation
was observed between predicted and experimental values of moisture and solid content.

Keywords: mass transfer; osmotic dehydration; diffusion; laminate.

INTRODUCTION (Torreggiani, 1993). It also increases sugar to acid ratio, and

Osmotic dehydration is a process for the partial removal of
water from plant tissues by immersion in an aqueous
concentrated solution of soluble solutes. A driving force
for the diffusion of water from the tissue into the solution is
provided by the difference in osmotic pressure between the
food and surrounding osmotic solution. The diffusion of
water is accompanied by the simultaneous counter diffusion
of solute from the osmotic solution into the tissue. Since the
membrane responsible for osmotic transport is not perfectly
selective, other solutes present in the cells can also be
leached into the osmotic solution (Dixon and Jen, 1977;
Lerici et al., 1985; Giangiacomo et al., 1987). The rate of
diffusion of water from any material made up of such tissues
is reported to be dependent on several factors such as
temperature and concentration of the osmotic solution, the
size and geometry of the material, the solution to material
mass ratio and the level of agitation of the solution (Raoult-
Wack et al., 1992; Torreggiani, 1993; Raoult-Wack, 1994;
Rastogi and Raghavarao, 1994, 1995, 1997a, b; Rastogi
et al., 1997, 2002).
Osmotic dehydration is generally used as an upstream
step for the dehydration of foods before they are subjected to
further processing such as freezing (Ponting, 1973), freeze
drying (Hawkes and Flink, 1978), vacuum drying (Dixon
and Jen, 1977) and air-drying (Nanjundaswamy et al.,
1978). Osmotic dehydration is used as a pretreatment to
many processes and improves nutritional, sensorial and
functional properties of food without changing its integrity
*Correspondence to: Dr. K.S.M.S. Raghavarao, Department of Food
Engineering, Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore
570 013, India.
E-mail: raghava@cscftri.ren.nic.in
improves texture and stability of the pigment during dehy-
dration and storage (Raoult-Wack, 1994). It is effective even
at ambient temperature, so heat damage to texture, colour
and flavour of food are minimized (Torreggiani, 1993).
Mass transfer during osmotic treatment occurs through
semi-permeable cell membranes present in biological mate-
rials, which offer the dominant resistance to the process. The
state of the cell membrane can change from being partially
permeable to being totally permeable and this can lead to
significant changes in tissue architecture (Rastogi et al.,
2000a).
There are a number of methods reported in the literature
(such as solution of Fick’s law, short time solution of Fick’s
law and slope method) for the calculation of effective
diffusion coefficients for water as well as solute during
osmotic dehydration considering steady state mass transfer
(Rastogi and Raghavarao, 1995, 1997b) as well as unsteady
state approach (Rastogi et al., 1997, 2002; Rastogi and
Raghavarao, 1997a, b; Convey et al., 1983; Beristain et al.,
1990; Azuara et al., 1992; Rastogi and Niranjan, 1998). Recent
advances in osmotic dehydration have been reported by
Barat et al. (2001), Ferrando and Spiess (2001), Kowalaska
and Lenart (2001) and Scalzo et al. (2001). The aim of the
present work is to study the mechanism of mass transfer
during osmotic dehydration and to determine the moisture
and solute diffusion coefficients during osmotic dehydration
based on moisture and solute concentration profiles.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Raw Material Preparation
Fresh potatoes were purchased locally in large quantities
and stored at low temperature (8–10
C) in order to have

44
 MASS TRANSFER DURING OSMOTIC DEHYDRATION 45

uniformity of raw material. The potatoes were cut into circular The solution of equation (4) for relative distance (x=l) can be
pieces of diameter 3.5 cm and thickness 1.0 cm. The average written for diffused moisture (Mr) and solute ratio (Sr)
moisture content of the potato was found to be 86.5% on a wet (Crank, 1975):
basis. Commercial sucrose was used as the osmotic agent.
ðm  m 1 Þ 4 X 1
(1)n
Mr ¼
t ¼
mo  m1 p n¼0 2n þ 1
Osmotic Dehydration
 
The potato pieces taken from the same potato were D (2n þ 1)2 p2 t (2n þ 1)px
 exp  ew cos (7)
blotted with tissue paper to remove external moisture. 4l 2 2l
These pieces were pre-weighed, tied with coloured thread
(for identification purposes) and subjected to osmotic dehy- and
dration in a vessel containing osmotic solution of concen- ð s  s1 Þ
tration 50
B. Temperature was maintained at 25
C in a Sr ¼
t 
so  s1
constant temperature stirred water bath. Ratio of the volume
of the sample to that of osmotic solution was maintained at  
4X 1
(1)n D (2n þ 1)2 p2 t
1:25, in order to ensure that the concentration of osmotic ¼ exp  es
solution did not change significantly during the experiment. p n¼0 2n þ 1 4l 2
At the end of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 h immersion time, the samples
were withdrawn, rinsed quickly in a stream of water to (2n þ 1)px
 cos (8)
remove adhering osmotic solution, blotted gently with tissue 2l
paper and then weighed. A potato slice after osmotic where Mr and Sr are the moisture and solute ratio; the
treatment was cut longitudinally into 10–12 slices. The subscripts o, 1 and t represent the corresponding con-
samples were then dried in a vacuum oven at 70
C for centrations at initial conditions, at equilibrium, and at any
about 18 h. All the experiments were carried out in triplicate time, respectively; Dew and Des are the effective diffusivities
and the average value was taken. of water and solute, respectively, considering infinite flat
The moisture and solute content were expressed in terms sheet configuration, ‘l’ the characteristic length and ‘x’
of kg of water=kg of initial dry solids and kg of solids=kg of varies between l < x < þl.
initial dry solids, respectively. The weight loss during Fourier numbers for water, Fow, and solute, Fos, diffusion
osmotic dehydration can be expressed by the following are given by the following equations (Perry et al., 1984;
relation (Rastogi and Raghavarao, 1997a): Rastogi and Raghavarao, 1997a, b):
weight loss ¼ water loss + solid gain (1) Dew t
Fow ¼ (9)
The moisture and solid content on dry basis (kg of water=kg of l2
dry solids) at any time can be calculated as follows: D t
Fos ¼ es (10)
l2
moisture content (kg=kg)
Substituting the values from equations (9) and (10) in to
(initial water present  water lost) equations (7) and (8) resulted in the following equations:
¼ (2)
initial dry solids ðm  m 1 Þ 4 X 1
(1)n
Mr ¼
t ¼
solid content (kg=kg) mo  m1 p n¼0 2n þ 1
 
(initial dry solids þ solid gain) (2n þ 1)2 p2 (2n þ 1)px
¼ (3)  exp  Fow cos (11)
initial dry solids 4 2l
and
Determination of Water and Solute Diffusivities
during Osmotic Dehydration ð s  s1 Þ 4 X 1
(1)n
Sr ¼
t ¼
Fick’s unsteady state diffusion equation can be written as so  s1 p n¼0 2n þ 1
(Crank, 1975):  
(2n þ 1)2 p2 (2n þ 1)px
@C @2 C  exp  Fos cos (12)
¼ De 2 (4) 4 2l
@t @x
where C is the concentration, De is the effective diffusion The values of diffused moisture (Mr) and (Sr) ratios for
coefficient, x is the diffusion path and t is the time. different x=l values were experimentally estimated over a
For an infinite slab being subjected to osmotic dehydration period of time (t). Using equations (11) and (12), the Fourier
from both the major faces with the assumptions (a) uniform numbers for moisture and solute diffusion were obtained
initial moisture distribution, (b) negligible external resistance (for a particular x=l value) corresponding to different values
to mass transfer and (c) no shrinkage during osmotic dehy- of diffused moisture and solute ratios, respectively. The
dration; and the following initial and boundary conditions value of Fourier numbers for moisture and solute diffusion,
C ¼ Co  l < x < þl t¼0 (5) thus obtained, for different values of immersion time (t)
were plotted according to equations (9) and (10) and the
C ¼ C1 x¼l t>0 (6) effective diffusion coefficient (De) values were inferred from

Trans IChemE, Part C, Food and Bioproducts Processing, 2004, 82(C1): 44–48
46 RASTOGI and RAGHAVARAO
the slope. (Rastogi and Raghavarao, 1997b; Rastogi et al.,
2000b, 2002).
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The mechanisms of osmotic dehydration in cellular
biological materials can be explained with the help of
schematic diagram shown in Figure 1. At first, water is
diffused from the outer layer of the sample to the osmotic
solution, thereby increasing the osmotic pressure at the
surface. As the osmotic pressure reaches a critical value
(1.95  105 Pa, Rastogi et al., 2000a), the cell membranes
rupture and shrink, which in turn results in more porous
cells and loss of water as well as gain of solid by the
material (Figure 1a and b).
As osmotic dehydration proceeds, the dehydration front
moves into the product (towards the centre of the material);
it results in cell membrane disintegration in the dehydrated
region and water is transported across three different regions
such as diffusion of water from the core of the material to
the dehydration front, diffusion of water across the front and
diffusion of water through the osmotically dehydrated
material into the surrounding medium. Owing to cell
permeabilization during progressive osmotic dehydration,
diffusion of solid from osmotic solution also occurs into the
material.
Since the moisture and solid content vary at each point
with time due to osmotic dehydration, it results in onset of
moisture as well as solute profiles (Figure 1). The increase in
immersion time results in decrease in moisture content and
increase in solid content towards the centre of the material.
The solid and moisture profiles obtained during the course
Figure 1. Schematic diagram showing the mechanisms of osmotic dehydra-
tion in cellular biological materials.
Trans IChemE, Part C, Food and Bioproducts Processing, 2004, 82(C1): 44–48
of osmotic dehydration are shown in Figure 2 (a, b). As
relative distance (x=l ) is increased from 0 to 1, the moisture
content decreases and solid content increases for all immer-
sion times. Similarly, at the centre of the material (x=l ¼ 0),
moisture content decreases and solid content increases as the
osmotic dehydration proceeds.
In order to calculate diffusion coefficients for moisture
and solid, the moisture and solid ratios (Mr and Sr) were
calculated and shown in Figure 3 (a, b). The values of
Fourier number of water (Fow) as well as solid diffusion
(Fos) were obtained for different relative distances as per
equations (11) and (12). These values of Fourier numbers,
thus obtained, were plotted against the corresponding values
of immersion times as shown in Figure 4 [as per equations
(9) and (10)]. The diffusion coefficients for moisture (Dew)
as well as solute (Des) at different relative distances were
calculated from the slopes of these plots.
The values of diffusion coefficients for moisture (Dew)
as well as solute (Des) were plotted against relative distances
(x=l ) as shown in Figure 5. The values of moisture as well as
solute diffusion coefficients remained constant up to a relative
distance of 0.5, beyond which it increased with increase in
relative distance. This indicates that for the present condition
of osmotic treatment, cells were not disintegrated up to a
relative distance of 0.5, beyond which cell disintegration
increased (increasing the porosity) with relative distance,
which resulted in increase in diffusion coefficients (Figure 5).
It may be noted that, although the De values are increasing
with an increase in distance (x=l), they are constant with
Figure 2. (a) Variation of moisture and (b) solid content with time for
different relative distances during osmotic dehydration of potato sample.
Slice thickness, 1.0 cm; osmotic solution concentration and temperature,
50
B and 25
C, respectively. (Osmotic dehydration time:  ¼ 1 h; j ¼ 2 h;
r ¼ 3 h; m ¼ 4 h; s ¼ 5 h.)
 MASS TRANSFER DURING OSMOTIC DEHYDRATION 47

Figure 5. Variation of effective diffusion coefficient for water (Dew) and

solute (Des) with relative distance (j ¼ for water diffusion  ¼ for solid
diffusion).

respect time for any given relative distance (x=l) as long as

there is no change in the physical properties of the sample.
The average moisture and solute diffusion coefficients
[(Dew)av and (Des)av] were calculated as per the following
equation proposed by Crank (1975) considering food mate-
rial as laminate.
l1 l l l l
þ 2 þ 3 þ  þ n ¼
(Dew )1 (Dew )2 (Dew )3 (Dew )n (Dew )av
Figure 3. (a) Moisture and (b) solid concentration profiles developed during (13)
osmotic dehydration. Slice thickness, 1.0 cm; osmotic solution concentra-
tion and temperature, 50
B and 25
C, respectively. (Osmotic dehydration l1 l l l l
time:  ¼ 1 h; j ¼ 2 h; r ¼ 3 h; m ¼ 4 h; s ¼ 5 h.) þ 2 þ 3 þ  þ n ¼
(Des )1 (Des )2 (Des )3 (Des )n (Des )av
(14)

(Dew)i and (Des)i are the moisture and solute diffusion

coefficients for respective distances li.
The average moisture (Dew)av and solute diffusion coeffi-
cients (Des)av were found to be 0.66  0.02  109 m2 s1
and 0.41  0.03  109 m2 s1, respectively. Based on these
average diffusion coefficients the moisture and solid content
for whole piece was calculated as per the following equations
for a well-agitated unlimited volume of osmotic solution
(Rastogi and Raghavarao, 1997a, b; Rastogi et al., 2002).

ðm  m 1 Þ 8X 1
1
Mr ¼
t ¼ 2 2
mo  m1 p n¼0 ð2n þ 1Þ
  2 
p Dew t
 exp ð2n þ 1Þ2 ; (15)
l2

and

ð s  s1 Þ 8X1
1
Sr ¼
t ¼ 2
so  s1 p n¼0 ð2n þ 1Þ2
  2 
2 p Des t
 exp ð2n þ 1Þ (16)
l2

The theoretical and experimental values for moisture as

well as for solid content with immersion time are shown in
Figure 6. The experimental determined moisture (r2 ¼ 0.95)
Figure 4. Variation of Fourier number of moisture as well as solid diffusion with and solid (r2 ¼ 0.96) content are in good agreement with the
immersion time (relative distance  ¼ 0; j ¼ 0.5; r ¼ 0.7; m ¼ 0.8; s ¼ 0.9). theoretical values.

Trans IChemE, Part C, Food and Bioproducts Processing, 2004, 82(C1): 44–48
48 RASTOGI and RAGHAVARAO
Figure 6. Comparison of theoretical [equations (15) and (16)] and
experimental values of moisture and solid content during osmotic dehydra-
tion. Symbols represent the experimental values and solid lines represent
theoretical values. Arrows point to respective axes.
It is revealed from the study that moisture as well as solid
profiles can be used for the prediction of the values of
diffusion coefficients.
CONCLUSION
Mass transfer during osmotic dehydration of was studied.
Moisture and solute diffusion coefficients during osmotic
dehydration were determined based on moisture and solute
concentration profiles. The average effective diffusion coeffi-
cients calculated from this method could predict the mois-
ture (r2 ¼ 0.95) and solid (r2 ¼ 0.96) content to a sufficient
accuracy. Such predictions are expected to be useful in
optimizing the osmotic dehydration process conditions.
NOMENCLATURE
C concentration at any time, kg m3; moisture content on a dry
basis at any time, kg kg1
C1 bulk concentration, kg m3
Co initial concentration, kg m3; initial moisture content on a dry
basis, kg kg1
Des effective diffusion coefficient of solute, m2 s1
Dew effective diffusion coefficient of water, m2 s1
Fos fourier number of solute diffusion
Fow fourier number of water diffusion
l half thickness of potato piece, m
m moisture content at t ¼ t, kg kg1
m1 moisture content at t ¼ 1 , kg kg1
mo initial moisture content at t ¼ 0, kg kg1
s solid content at t ¼ t, kg kg1
s1 solid content at t ¼ 1 , kg kg1
so initial solid content at t ¼ 0, kg kg1
t immersion time, h
T temperature of osmotic solution, K
x length of diffusion path, m
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Thanks are due to Mr N. Venkateswara Rao for his help for some of the
experiments.
The manuscript was received 30 May 2003 and accepted for publication
after revision 9 January 2004.