Water sorption isotherms of freeze dried fish sardines

Water sorption isotherms of freeze dried fish sardines were determined at 25, 40 and 50°C using an isopiestic method. Water sorption modeling was carried out using the five-parameter Guggenheim-Anderson-deBoer (GAB) equation. The GAB equation was able to predict equilibrium moisture content (EMC) with a mean relative error of 7.4%. The correlation coefficient (R²) of the relationship between the actual and predicted values of EMC was 0.986. Modeling with GAB equation predicted monolayer moisture content (X_m) of 4.94% (d.b). Net isosteric heat of sorption, determined using Clausius-Clapeyron equation, varied from 12.07 to 0.86 kJ/mo1 as moisture content changed from 2.76 to 37.5% dry basis (d.b). Chemical composition analysis showed that fish sardine contained 71% (d.b.) crude protein, 10% (d.b.) fat and 15% (d.b.) ash.