Carboxymethyl cellulose–NH4NO3 solid biopolymer electrolyte films were prepared by solution casting technique. Ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) with 5–50 wt.% were dissolved in disparate carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) solution, respectively. The electrical properties and conduction mechanism of electrolyte films have been revealed by employing electrical impedance spectroscopy in the frequency range of 50 Hz to 1 MHz within the temperature range of 303 K to 353 K. The ionic conductivity was observed to be influenced by the NH4NO3 concentration. The conductivity–temperature relationship is Arrhenius. From dielectric loss variation with frequency, the power law exponent was obtained. The temperature dependence of the power law exponent for CMC– NH4NO3 system can be represented by the quantum mechanical tunneling (QMT) model.

Ginger has a high moisture content, which makes it highly susceptible to spoilage. Therefore, the shelf life can be extended through drying. In the drying process, osmotic dehydration is applied as pre-treatment due to its simple operation and energy-saving process for removing moisture from food. However, large solute gain during the osmotic dehydration has become the major challenge of this process as it has a negative impact on the final product. The edible coating is the key step to circumventing this issue. Alginate is a potential candidate for the coating material to enhance the mass transfer kinetics of the osmotic dehydration process. This study investigated the surface modification of ginger slices caused by the cross-linker calcium chloride and plasticizer glycerol on alginate coating using a Scanning Electron Microscope. Furthermore, the kinetics of water loss and solute gain were evaluated and modelling aspects were conducted. It was observed that the surface roughness of ginger coated with a combination of alginate, glycerol and calcium ions has reduced. This facilitated the mass transfer process, which was observed to have a high water loss and a lower solute gain. The Peleg model presented the best fitting model of mass transfer kinetics during osmotic dehydration of ginger slices. From this work, it can be deduced that alginate-based coating can be a promising pre-treatment step in the osmotic dehydration process.