DRYING BEHAVIOR OF OSMOTICALLY DEHYDRATED WATERMELON（Citrullus lanatus var. Klondyke) PULP

The study was carried out to determine the drying behavior, specifically water loss, during the osmotic dehydration of watermelon pulp. The study was conducted in ABE Complex - Mindanao State University, General Santos City. Watermelon pulp was subjected to three different temperatures (40±2C, 50±2℃, 60±2℃) of osmotic solution with 70°Bx sucrose concentration at agitated condition (1,000rpm) until equilibrium moisture content (EMC) was attained. From an initial value of 94.00- 95.00%, the moisture content of watermelon pulp decreased to 91.35-93.93%. Higher water loss was possessed at 60±2°C compared to 50±2°C and 40±2°C. The increase in water loss when samples were immersed in a high-temperature solution is due to the increase in the rate of diffusion in this condition. The drying models used for analyzing the drying behavior were Newton, Page, and Henderson-Pabis. Page model was concluded to be the best fit among the three models. The goodness of fit was evaluated using coefficient determination (R2), chi-squared (X2), mean bias error (MBE), and root mean square error (RMSE). Results of ANOVA concluded that only the differences between the k-constant of the Newton model and the n-constant of the Page model were significantly different.