Osmotic Dehydration of Mango Cubes: Effect of Novel Gluten-Based Coating

Edible coating before osmotic dehydration (OD) reduces solute uptake, which can deteriorate product quality. Polysaccharide-based coatings have been reported for this purpose with limited success. Gluten, due to its inherent film formation property, has the potential to be used for this purpose. In this study, mango cubes of different maturity were osmotically dehydrated with and without gluten-based coating. An edible coating was prepared through fractionation of gluten. Osmotic dehydration was performed at 50 degrees C for 2 h with osmotic solutions (OSs) at various concentrations (45, 55, 65 degrees Brix). Coating improved the dehydration efficiency index (DEI) due to a substantial decrease in solute gain (SG) and slight increase in water loss (WL). The coating modified the physicochemical properties and this effect was significantly observed at 55 degrees Brix. Coated mango cubes were harder and shrank more than uncoated mango. The physicochemical properties after OD were also found to be influenced by the maturity of raw mangoes.