The process of osmotic dehydration was applied in order to reduce the losses post-harvest, to diversify the industrial utilization of the jenipapo (Genipa americana L.), and to obtain a product with good organoleptic characteristic and good microbiological stability. The fruits were purchased in the street fair of Afogados, a district of Recife, in the conditions in which they are sold. They were cut in cubes and submitted to several conditions of processing, through a factorial design 2³ to determine the influence of independent variables: temperature, kind of sugar and osmotic agent concentration over moisture loss, sugar uptake and weight reduction. The process was complemented with drying in stove, with forced ventilation at 60ºC±5ºC for 3h±10', after which the products were packed in polyethylene packaging and stored at room temperature (28ºC±3ºC) for ninety days. The results demonstrated that: a significant solids uptake occurred; none of the obtained responses was influenced by the type of sugar used, whereas the osmotic agent concentration not only reflected on all of them it also interacted with the temperature influencing over moisture loss; during storage time, the products were microbiologically stable, without significant differences, in the organoleptic caracteristic, although the scores have showed a preference for the products obtained under the 60ºBrix, 60ºC and a blend of demerara and crystal sugar. The high solids uptake occurred points to a necessity to achieve the optimization of the products in order to reduce it.
osmotic dehydration; jenipapo; conservation
