Osmotic dehydration is a process that can be applied to fruit to increase their shelf life and hence reduce loss percentage. In the application of this process in jenipapo, a high incorporation of soluble solids was observed, considered disadvantageous because of the reduction of the similarity between the product and the fruit "in natura". In this work, low metoxilation alginate and pectin based edible coating were used to reduce this mass transfer. The effectiveness of these polysaccharides was evaluated in Jenipapos, purchased in supermarkets in the metropolitan area of the city of Recife, in the conditions in which they are sold. The research was developed in two stages: the first by means of a factorial design 2(3-1), consisting of three treatments: A (fruits without coating); B (fruits with alginate coating); and C (fruits with pectin coating) in order to study the influence of the coatings; in the second stage a factorial design 2³ was used in order to determine the influence of independent variables: temperature, coating type and geometry over moisture loss, solutes uptake, weight variation and rate of DEI (Dehydration Efficiency Index). The results obtained in the first stage showed that: the coatings were efficient in the reduction of solutes uptake as well as in the moisture loss increase, the higher DEI in both coatings were obtained at 50 °Brix, the highest DEI at 30 °C and the geometry was represented by the fruit cut in fourths. In the second stage a higher influence of the geometry over the moisture loss and the solute uptake as well as the coatings over the weight variation and moisture loss were confirmed. It was observed that the temperature exerts decisive influence over the other variables with the exception of the DEI. The results showed that the lower solutes uptake associated with a satisfactory moisture loss were obtained with alginate coating and the geometry was represented by the fruit cut in fourths, at 50 °Brix, regardless of the temperatures, allowing to set it at 50 °C.
osmotic dehydration; jenipapo; edible coating
