3.2. Changes in respiration behaviour
Fig. 1 represents the respiration rates of fresh and dehydrated samples at atmospheric pressure (OD) or by applying a vacuum pulse (PVOD), along with the effect of adding calcium to the osmo- tic solution. As was observed in a previous work (Castelló et al., 2006), the higher the dehydration level, the greater the decrease in the RO2 of samples dehydrated at atmospheric pressure. When vacuum pulse was applied, there was a more intense reduction of RO2 regardless of the level of dehydration, such as was previ- ously observed for other fruits (Castelló et al., 2006). Despite cal- cium addition not leading to significant changes in RO2, a tendency towards a reduction in this rate was observed. In con- trast, osmo-dehydration implied an increase in RCO2, regardless of the level of dehydration. This effect was less significant when vac- uum impregnation was applied and when calcium concentration increased in the tissue. As a consequence, the values of RQ were higher than 1 for all treatments. The increase in RQ values were clearly promoted by vacuum impregnation treatment and calcium enrichment.