Profile of convective drying process of osmotically dehydrated apples in sucrose solution

Cel i zakres pracy obejmował określenie wpływu temperatury i prędkości powietrza w komorze suszarki konwekcyjnej oraz czasu odwadniania osmotycznego jabłek w roztworze sacharozy, w temperaturze 30 °C, na przebieg procesu i wybrane właściwości suszu: czas suszenia do osiągnięcia wilgotności suszu około 10 % oraz szybkość suszenia osiąganą przy tej wilgotności materiału, współczynnik dyfuzji wody, końcową (równowagową w danych warunkach suszenia) zawartość i aktywność wody otrzymanego suszu. Stwierdzono istotny wpływ temperatury na wybrane do analizy wskaźniki charakteryzujące proces suszenia i otrzymany susz jabłkowy w badanym zakresie zmienności temperatury, prędkości powietrza i czasu odwadniania osmotycznego. Analiza otrzymanych zależności pozwoliła wykazać, że wzrost temperatury suszenia w zakresie 55 – 85 °C powoduje zmniejszenie końcowej (równowagowej) zawartości i aktywności wody w suszach jabłkowych wstępnie odwadnianych osmotycznie. Jednocześnie podwyższenie temperatury suszenia spowodowało przyspieszenie procesu i skróciło czas potrzebny do uzyskania w produkcie wilgotności około 10 %.The objective and scope of the paper included the determination of the effect of three factors on the drying process and on some selected properties of the dried material. The 3 factors analyzed were: temperature; air flow rate in the drying chamber of convective dryer; osmotic dehydration time of apples in sucrose solution at a temperature of 30 °C. The selected parameters were: drying time necessary to achieve 10 % moisture in the dried material and drying rate being achieved at this moisture level; water diffusion coefficient, final content (i.e. equilibrium content under the specific drying conditions) and activity of water in the dried material produced. It has been proved that the temperature has a significant effect on the selected and analyzed parameters characterizing the drying process, as well as on the dried apples produced in the investigated range of variability of temperature, air flow rate and osmotic dehydration time. Based on the analysis of dependencies obtained, it was possible to prove that the increase in drying temperature ranging from 55 to 85 °C caused the final (equilibrium) water content and the activity of dried apples being osmotically pre-treated to decrease. At the same time, the increase in the drying temperature caused the drying process to accelerate and the time necessary to obtain 10 % moisture to be reduced

The allergic sensitization in infants with atopic eczema from different countries

No study has compared allergic sensitization patterns in infants with atopic eczema from different countries. The aim of this study was to investigate the patterns of allergic sensitization in a cohort of infants with atopic eczema participating in a multicentre, international study

Confirmation of the association between high levels of immunoglobulin E food sensitization and eczema in infancy: an international study

Background Studies of Australian infants have reported that more than 80% of those with moderate atopic eczema (AE) have high levels of IgE food sensitization (IgE-FS) that are commonly associated with IgE food allergy. Objectives To explore the relationship between high levels of IgE-FS and AE in a large cohort of young children with eczema participating in a multi-centre, international study. Methods Two thousand one hundred and eighty-four subjects (mean age 17.6 months, range 11.8-25.4; 1246 males) with active eczema from atopic families from 94 centres in 12 countries were studied. Clinical history, Scoring Atopic Dermatitis index as a measure of eczema severity and CAP-FEIA measurements for total IgE and IgE antibody levels to cow milk, egg and peanut were entered into a database. If CAP-FEIA levels exceeded previously reported age-specific cut-off levels for 95% positive predictive values (PPVs) for food allergy, subjects were defined as having high-risk IgE-FS (HR-IgE-FS). Results Serum was available from 2048 patients; 55.5% were atopic. The frequency of HR-IgE-FS to milk, egg and/or peanut was the greatest in patients whose eczema developed in the first 3 months of life and the least in those whose eczema developed after 12 months (P < 0.0001). In a regression analysis to allow for potential confounding factors, children with HR-IgE-FS had the most severe eczema and the youngest age of onset (P < 0.001); 64% of infants with severe eczema of onset-age <3 months had HR-IgE-FS. Conclusion Early-onset severe eczema in infancy was associated with HR-IgE-FS. Clinical implications Food allergies should be routinely assessed in infants with moderate or severe eczema. Capsule summary In eczematous infants, the earlier the age of onset, and the greater the severity of eczema, the greater the frequency of associated high levels of IgE-FS