OPTIMIZATION OF OSMOTIC DEHYDRATION OF TODDY FRUIT IN SUGAR SOLUTION USING RESPONSE SURFACE METHODOLOGY

The response surface methodology (RSM) was applied to optimize the effects of immersion time (60,90and 120min), temperature (35, 45 and 55⁰C) and concentration of sucrose solution (30, 40 and 50⁰Brix) in osmotic dehydration of toddy fruit slices (2mm thickness). Box-Behnken Design was used with water loss (WL, %), solid gain (SG, %), and weight reduction (WR, %) as responses. The models obtained for all the responses were significant (P≤0.05) without a significant lack of fit. The optimum conditions were temperature (45°C), immersion time (109.336min), concentration of sucrose solution (40⁰Brix) in order to obtain WL of  (29.331g/100g initial sample), SG of (4.265g/100g initial sample) and WR of  25.224 g/100g initial sample, respectively.