Osmotic Dehydration and Assessment of Quality Attributes of Seasonal Vegetable Crops: Carrot and Beetroot Cubes

Fulfilling the food demand of a growing population is the biggest challenge as lot of food globally got wasted due to improper storage and processing. Osmotic dehydration offers high-quality preservation and maintenance of the integrity of fruits & vegetables. Response surface methodology was performed to estimate the main effect of osmotic dehydration process on quality attributes of carrot and beetroot cubes. Higher values of the osmotic solution of salt and sucrose at sample to solution ratio of 1:5 had provoked higher flows of water and solutes through the carrot and beetroot cubes. The range of NaCl concentration varies from 4-12 % w/v in carrot and 12-16 % w/v in beetroot for 2, 4 and 6 hour. However, sucrose concentration varies from 40-60o Brix in both carrot and beetroot. Quality attribute of carrot and beetroot including ascorbic acid, carotenoid, total phenol etc. didn’t changed on recommended process variables 50o Brix of sucrose + 8 % w/v sodium chloride for carrot and 50o Brix of sucrose + 14 % w/v NaCl for beetroot under osmotic dehydration for 4 hours. It was considered to get maximum water loss, weight reduction, subsequent rehydration ratio, overall acceptability and minimum solute gain of rehydrated product.