Changes in nutritive and textural quality of apple osmodehydrated in sugar beet molasses and saccharose solutions

The paper describes texture and mineral content of apple, osmotically dehydrated in sugar beet molasses as compared to apples treated in saccharose solution. Osmotic dehydration was conducted at constant temperature of 55°C and atmospheric pressure. During the experiment, the concentration of sugar beet molasses was varied 40 to 80%, the concentration of saccharose solutions was varied in the range of 30 to 70%, and the most important kinetic parametars of the osmotic dehydration, after 1, 3 and 5 hours of immersion were observed. During osmotic dehydration, in the samples which were treated in sugar beet molasses, the content of minerals was increased to a great extent that enhanced their nutritive value. Textural quality parameter was evaluated from the maximum cut force, tested at Instron testing machine. It was found that the samples dehydrated in saccharose solutions had a softer and more gentle texture - the maximum force load decreased threefold as compared to the other samples