Effect of Salts on the Water Sorption Kinetics of Dried Pasta

The water sorption kinetics of dried pasta were measured in the 20-90 °C range in 1.83 mol/L of NaCl and at 80 °C in 1.83 mol/L of LiCl, KCl, NaBr and NaI solutions in order to elucidate the role of salt in the kinetics. At the temperatures higher than 70.8 °C, the change in the enthalpy of sorption, ΔH, in the 1.83 mol/L NaCl solution was 33.1 kJ/mol, which was greater than the ΔH value in water, and the activation energy for the sorption, E, in the salt solution was 25.6 kJ/mol, which was slightly lower than the E value in water. The Hofmeister series of ions was an index for their effect on the equilibrium amount of the sorbed solution of pasta. The apparent diffusion coefficient of water into pasta was not correlated with the crystal radius of the salts, but was with the Stokes radius of the hydrated ions. Equations were formulated to predict the amount of sorbed solution under any condition of temperature and NaCl concentration.