Cylindrical cuts of melon (Cucumis melo var inodorus Naudin, yellow type) were submitted to impregnation with calcium chloride solutions (0.5 g.100 mL-1 of solution) added with gelatinized starch (0. 5 and 10 g.100 mL-1 of solution) and glucose (0. 10 and 20 g.100 mL-1 of solution) with controlled vacuum pressure (84.4; 50.5 and 16.6 kPa). Measurements of the total soluble solids, incorporation or loss components (turgidity) and texture of melon slices were made before and after vacuum impregnation. Quality parameter variations were calculated in relation to the original fruit. Alterations in the viscosity of the solutions during the processing had been also quantified. The existence of synergistic processes between the solute flows from the fruit and from the solution was evident and could be analyzed using response surfaces for the different pressures as a function of the glucose and gelatinized starch concentrations in the solutions. The molecular mobility of components of the fruit and the solution related to viscosity was discussed.
Pretreatment; texture; viscosity
