The hydration kinetics of four different jack bean cultivars were systematically investigated to understand their water absorption behavior under controlled soaking conditions. The samples were immersed in water for soaking periods ranging from 10 to 40 minutes, while the soaking temperature varied between 31.68 and 53.3°C. These conditions were selected to simulate typical processing environments and to evaluate the influence of temperature and time on hydration behavior. To analyze the experimental data, five established mathematical model equations were applied to describe the water absorption process of the jack bean cultivars. The performance of the models was assessed using two statistical parameters: the coefficient of determination (R²) and the root mean square error (RMSE). A higher R² value combined with a lower RMSE indicated a stronger agreement between the experimental and predicted water absorption values. Among the models tested, the Page model demonstrated the best fitting performance based on these statistical criteria, effectively capturing the hydration characteristics of the jack bean samples. The effective moisture diffusivity values increased from 3.067 × 10⁻sup10/supm²/s to 9.40 × 10⁻sup10/supm²/s with increasing soaking time and temperature, reflecting enhanced diffusion rates under warmer conditions. This increase is attributed to reduced water viscosity and structural softening of the bean matrix. Additionally, the moisture ratio curves revealed a consistent decrease with rising temperature across all cultivars, confirming the significant role of temperature in accelerating water absorption during soaking.
E.O. Awotona (Thu,) studied this question.