Physicochemical characteristics of dehydrated apple cubes reconstituted in sugar solutions

Water solutions with different sugar compositions and concentrations were used to reconstitute air-dried and freeze-dried apple pieces. The mass transfer was determined between dehydrated fruit pieces and solutions during rehydration as well as some physicochemical properties of the reconstituted apple pieces. Varying the concentration of sugar solutions used for reconstitution medium, made it possible to achieve different levels of water absorption and solids loss or uptake. In addition, water activity (a(w)), freezing point, amount of freezable water and firmness correlated linearly with soluble solids content.[...