OSMOTIC DEHYDRATION OF MAPARÁ CATFISH (Hypophthalmus edentatus) FILLETS: EFFECT OF TERNARY SOLUTIONS

A combination of dry salting and sun drying is one of the oldest and most important techniques of fish conservation in Brazil. Dried salted fish prepared by this method can easily be found in the Northern and Northeastern States. The main problem is the lack of process control, which can provoke lead to products with low microbiological and/or nutritional control. Mapara fillets were osmotically dehydrated according to a 2 4-1 fractional factorial design for each hypertonic solution (salt-sucrose and salt-corn syrup). The effects of the salt (12 to 14%) and sugar (30 to 40%) concentrations, temperature (30 to 50 C) and immersion time (6 to 12h) for both water loss (WL) and solids gain (SG) were evaluated. Through the obtained results, it was verified which type of solution resulted in greater water loss and smaller solids gain. In the design using sucrose and salt, only the sugar concentration wasn t significant for water loss and solids gain. All the effects were significant. In the design using corn syrup and salt .