Application of Peleg model to study mass transfer during osmotic dehydration of apple in sugar beet molasses

The applicability of Peleg equation was examined for the description of mass transfer during osmotic dehydration (OD) of apple in sugar beet molasses. Mass transfer was investigated in terms of water loss (WL) and solid gain (SG), during OD in 40-80% sugar beet molasses solutions, at 45, 55 and 65oC. High regression coefficients obtained for Peleg constants (R2>0.975) indicate good fit to the experimental data. The Peleg rate constant varied from 0.144 to 0.785 (g/g i.s.w.) and from 2.006 to 4.436 (g/g i.s.w.) for WL and SG, respectively. The Peleg capacity constant varied from 1.142 to 1.553 (h g/g i.s.w.) and from 8.254 to 11.930 (h g/g i.s.w.) for WL and SG, respectively. The equilibrium WL∞ and SG∞ were estimated using the Peleg model. In addition, the activation energy (Ea) for WL and SG was determined from the relationship between the Peleg rate constant and Arrhenius equation.