Ultrasonically Enhanced Osmotic Pretreatment of Sea Cucumber Prior to Microwave Freeze Drying

A new pretreatment method involving use of ultrasound prior to microwave freeze drying of sea cucumber was examined experimentally. It was observed that ultrasound-assisted osmotic pretreatment can reduce by about 2 h the time needed for microwave freeze drying. An optimization study using response surface analysis was carried out to determine the optimal operating parameters to minimize drying time while maximizing quality.