Factores Significativos de Transferencia de Masa en Optimización del Secado de Tiras de Mango Kent por Deshidratación Osmótica

In this work, the objective was to determine the level of optimization of drying of Kent mango strips by osmotic dehydration through significant mass transfer factors. The response variables were water loss, solids gain and mass loss. Process factors such as syrup concentration, temperature, process time, mango strip thickness, and syrup/mango mass ratio were first evaluated with the definitive screening design of experiments. The results of the stepwise analysis for the multiple linear regression model identified syrup concentration and mango strip thickness as significant factors, which were evaluated with the response surface (central composite) design of experiments. From the Optimization analysis, the Brix levels determined for the syrup Brix was 60 degrees and the thickness of the Kent mango strips was 4 mm. Although the optimum point was determined, it was more important to identify the optimum region of the process.