Impregnation and Infiltration Kinetics of Isotonic Solution in Whole Jalapeño Pepper Using a Vacuum Pulse

The kinetics incorporation of an isotonic solution (IS) into the whole jalapeño pepper, as a function of the vacuum pressure (p 1 , vacuum application time (t 1 ), and relaxation time (t 2 ), is necessary to determining the conditions leading to the highest incorporation of IS. This study was aimed at determining the operation conditions to achieve maximum impregnation (M in ) of whole jalapeño pepper tissue, and a complete infiltration (M in ) of its inner void with an IS, using a vacuum pulse. Impregnation of whole jalapeño peppers was conducted using an IS (a w = 0.993 ± 0.001), a vacuum pulse, and 5 levels for each process variable (t 1 , t 2 , p 1 ), according to a central composite design. The amounts of impregnated and infiltrated IS were measured by following changes in pepper weight. The p 1 , t 2 had a significant effect ( P < 0.01) on the rate of M im and M in (g IS/g pepper). It was found that the structure of whole jalapeño plays an important role in the deformation‐relaxation process, which also affects the impregnation and infiltration kinetics. A high level of p 1 (666 mbar) and t 2 (840 min) allowed to achieve the maximum values of M im and M in (0.07 and 0.29 g IS/g pepper, respectively). These results suggest that different driving force acts in promoting the M im and M in , during the t 1 and t 2 . This information will be of great value in the analysis of the pickling process of whole jalapeño pepper with a hypertonic solution and a vacuum pulse.