Original article: Effect of sucrose and glycerol mixtures in the osmotic solution on characteristics of osmotically dehydrated mandarin cv. (Sai‐Namphaung)

Summary This study investigated the effects of a series of osmotic solutions consisting of sucrose and glycerol on the quality of osmotically dehydrated mandarin, namely mandarin cv. (Sai‐Namphaung). Mandarin samples were peeled and osmotically dehydrated at 55 °C with agitation at 3.5776 × 10−1g in five osmotic solutions containing various mixtures of 60% sucrose and 60% glycerol (9:1, 8:2, 7:3, 6:4 and 5:5 w/w, respectively). The osmotically dehydrated mandarin was further dried using hot‐air drying at 70 °C for 360 min. Increasing the glycerol ratio in the mixtures significantly (P ≤ 0.05) increased water loss and solid gain during osmotic dehydration, and significantly (P ≤ 0.05) affected kinetic rate constants during drying. An increase in the glycerol ratio in the mixtures caused a significant decrease in the quality factors of hardness, moisture content, water activity and reducing sugar. However, the increase resulted in an increase in the darkness of the dried mandarin, compared with increasing the sucrose ratio in the mixtures (P ≤ 0.05). The increase had an insignificant (P > 0.05) effect on vitamin C content.