The effect of three different osmotic agents on Andes berry
and tamarillo fruit was investigated (Table 1). After three
successive DIS cycles the osmotic solutions obtained showed a
deep red colour and exhibited the characteristic aroma of each
fruit. In each treatment, some parameters related to the mass
transfer, such as solids gain, water loss, and weight reduction,
were calculated (data not shown) for the osmodehydrated fruits
based on the equations published by Giangiacomo, Torreggiani,
and Abbo (1987). This evaluation showed that the water loss is
highest when adding glycerol to sucrose, and the dehydration
with ethanol seems to be superior to the other two. Nevertheless,
the calculated parameters for ethanol are not comparable
because the fruit absorb a high amount of this agent. As
expected, from the determination of moisture content in the
osmodehydrated (OD) fruits, it was possible to confirm that the
dehydration process decreases during the successive DIS
cycles. Additionally, the use of glycerol for Andes berry also
increases the solids gain, thus indicating that there is a major
flux from the solution into the fruit. Related to osmotic
solutions, the decrease in the soluble solids content (°Brix
value) among the different cycles was observed.