The principle of seafood preservation by drying involves a decrease in water activity (aw) by removal of water. By reducing
the a
w of a food matrix, microbial growth is reduced or inhibited,
while the rates of other deteriorative processes in the fish tissues
are changed, reaching a minimum at different levels of aw (Collignan et al., 2001; Rahman, 2006). Osmotic dehydration is a technique used to reduce aw to improve nutritional, sensorial and
functional properties of food. It is achieved by an immersion of
the product into a concentrated solution of salts and/or low molecular weight carbohydrates. Difference in osmotic pressure between
the food and its surrounding solution acts as the driving force for
water removal, while the complex cellular structure of food acts
as a semipermeable membrane (Byrne et al., 2001). The preservative effect of osmotic treatment is greater as the aw of the final
product decreases.