[...]... applications of osmotic treatments to food material, improve scientific knowledge for the evaluation and control of modifications of food processed through osmotic treatments, and provide necessary scientific and technological tools for industrial application of OT on a larger scale We hope this book will fill a wide gap in the understanding and utilization of osmotic dehydration and vacuum impregnation. .. Eds., Chapman and Hall, pp 253–269 Marcotte, M and Le Maguer, M (1992) Mass transfer in cellular tissues Part II Computer simulations vs experimental data J Food Eng 17:177–199 Mavroudis, N E., Gekas, V., and Sjöholm, I (1998a) Osmotic dehydration of apples— effects of agitation and raw material characteristics J Food Eng 35:191–209 Mavroudis N E., Gekas V., and Sjöholm I (1998b) Osmotic dehydration. .. pasteurization, and freezing, have primarily a stabilizing effect, other steps, namely, partial dehydration and osmodehydration, allow the properties of the material to be modified Modification may include physical properties such as water content, water activity, and consistency, and chemical and sensory properties as well; the latter two are also associated with a change in composition A partial dehydration. .. where osmotic dehydration is a step is still necessary At the same time, management of osmotic solutions remains one of the most critical points on an industrial scale to be resolved This book includes edited and expanded versions of the papers presented at the “3rd Industrial Seminar on Osmotic Dehydration and Vacuum Impregnation: Applications of New Technologies to Traditional Food Industry”, which... osmodehydrated in a 60% solution of sorbitol, sucrose, and maltose for 4 h, and then were frozen and stored at Ϫ10°C, Ϫ20°C, and Ϫ30°C for 9 months The osmotic pretreatment modified the percent distribution of the sugars and thus the glass transition temperature of the fruits (Torreggiani et al., 1994) There was a correlation between the storage temperature and chlorophyll retention: the lower the temperature... obtaining samples from the center and from the periphery of the parenchyma called inner and outer specimens, respectively, produced two apple samples Those samples differ mainly in the tissue structure, i.e., cell and intercellular spaces arrangement and morphology (Mavroudis et al., 1998a) The osmotic dehydration experiments were performed in a jacketed, agitated vessel The osmotic medium was 50% sucrose... operating conditions, such as processing temperature, pressure and time, composition of solution, geometry of the food pieces, weight ratio solution, and contact between the food pieces and solution The extent of water removal and solute impregnation is dependent on the additional processing techniques applied, and on the desired nutritional and sensory characteristics of the products The recent increase... of solutes and a controlled and equilibrated ratio of water removal and impregnation, it is possible to enhance natural flavour and colour retention in fruit products, so that the addition of food additives such as antioxiHE © 2001 by Technomic Publishing Company, Inc 9810.chfm 4/24/01 10:42 AM Page xvi dants can be avoided; softer textures in partially dehydrated products can be obtained; and each... Portugal (October 1997) and Bertinoro, Italy (April 1998) This EU Concerted Action involved 13 Research Centers and Universities in Europe (9 countries), Israel, and Canada, including: Federal Research Centre for Nutrition and University of Karlsruhe, Germany; CIRAD-AMIS, France; The Robert Gordon University, Scotland; Aristotelean University of Thessaloniki, Greece; University of Udine and I.V.P.T.A., Italy;... Publishing Company, Inc 9810.ch01 4/24/01 10:42 AM Page 8 dration, air dehydration, and their combination), the dehydration levels (20, 30, 40, 50, and 60% weight loss) and their influence on color of the end products were also studied Up to 40% weight loss osmodehydration and its combination with air dehydration did not significantly modify the kiwifruit color, whereas air drying caused a significant yellowing . Inc. Part II: Vacuum Impregnation and Osmotic Processes in Fruit and Vegetables 6. VACUUM IMPREGNATION VIABILITY OF SOME FRUITS AND VEGETABLES A. ANDRÉS, D. SALVATORI, A. ALBORS, A. CHIRALT and P such a well-organized and compre- hensive manner. This carefully edited reference addresses the fundamental and applied aspects of osmotic dehydration and vacuum impregnation and includes the work. previously unresolved issues and greatly facilitates the un- derstanding and the scale-up of osmotic dehydration and vacuum impregna- tion. I congratulate the editors and authors for a job well