Potential of calorimetry to study osmotic dehydration of food materials

Abstract A new method, thermocalorimetry, was developed to study osmotic dehydration. The kinetic data from the method was comparable to more traditional methods in the determination of rate constants for water loss. Thermocalorimetry measurements indicated a 2–3 kinetic phases, a relatively rapid process followed by a relatively slow process. The first phase is possibly due to water removal from the cut surfaces and damaged cells and the initiation of water transfer from cells near the surface of the tissue. The second phase of heat output which is less rapid occurred in the next hour possibly associated with the loss of water due to the movement of free water from the intercellular spaces of samples to the external sucrose solution. The third kinetic phase, a relatively slow process is possibly due to loss of water from the extracellular volume of the cells and intracellular volume of the cells across the cell membrane in the sample to the external sucrose solution.