Optimization of Process Variables Affecting Osmotic Dehydration of Green Chili in Sucrose Solution by Response Surface Methodology

Response surface methodology was used to investigate the effect of solute concentration (30-70°B), solution temperature (40-60°C) and process time (15-300 min) on water loss, solid gain and water loss to solid gain ratio during osmotic dehydration of green chili. The face centered central composite design (FCCD) with three factors at three different levels was used for optimizing the process variables. The models developed for all responses were found significant at 95% confidence level. It was found that all variables at linear level have significant effect on water loss (WL), solid gain (SG) and WL/SG ratio. The optimized conditions were solute concentration of 30°B, solution temperature of 40°C and time of 299.93 min in order to obtain WL of 18.66%, SG of 5.78% and WL/SG ratio of 2.73