This study compared mass transfer during osmotic dehydration (OD), as well as some quality indices, of untreated mango samples to those pretreated. by applying high intensity electric field pulses (HELPs), high pressure (HP) or supercritical carbon dioxide having the same initial cell disintegration index (Z(p)) in the range 0.50-0.58. HELP and HP pretreated samples had a higher water loss (WL) and higher solid gain (Sg) than the untreated samples. Applying supercritical carbon dioxide did not improve water loss but facilitated higher sugar gain (8-42%) than in the other pretreated samples. HP and supercritical carbon dioxide pretreatments increased the red intensity (a values) of the mangos. The breaking force of HELP and HP pretreated samples increased with OD time. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.