Analysis of the Mass Transfer Kinetics of Dealuminated Jellyfish During Ethanol Pickling Process

The main quality and safety issue in processing salted jellyfish for food is excessive aluminum. After dealumination, problems such as a low quality and short shelf life may occur. A method for reprocessing dealuminated jellyfish that can maintain quality and yield bactericidal effects is necessary. Alcohol provides astringent protein and bactericidal effects, and ethanol is safe and nontoxic. It can be added as needed in food production. The optimal processing conditions were determined by studying the mass transfer and quality changes in dealuminated jellyfish at different ethanol concentrations. The results revealed that both the ethanol concentration and pickling time significantly affected the mass transfer changes of substances in the pickling process for dealuminated jellyfish. The total mass of dealuminated jellyfish decreased with increasing ethanol concentration, whereas the ethanol content increased. The changes were more obvious at the early stages of pickling, and then tended to flatten out. The diffusion coefficient was the highest for the 45% pickling solution, and the texture characteristics were similar to those of edible jellyfish, thus rendering this solution more suitable for dealuminated jellyfish ethanol soaking. In addition, the mass transfer model for various substances in the pickling process for dealuminated jellyfish exhibited a suitable linear correlation with time, which can be effectively applied.