OSMOTIC preconcentration (dehydration) is the partial removal of water by
direct contact of a product with a hypertonic medium, i.e., a highconcentration
sugar or salt solution for fruits and vegetables, respectively.
During osmotic processing, two major countercurrent flows take place simultaneously.
Under the water and the osmotic solute activity, gradients across
the product-medium interface, and water flows from the product into the osmotic
solution, whereas osmotic solute is transferred from the solution into
the product