The objective of this work was considered the application of the Zugarramurdi and Lupin model in the osmotic dehydration kinetics of sardine sheets, in order to study the equilibrium, as well as the kinetics of the process. Groups of three sheets were immersed into an osmotic solution of a given concentration and temperature. Initial and final weight and moisture content were measured in each sheet. Each treatment condition was performed according to a 5 x 5 x 7 factorial design where the temperature, concentration and dehydration time were 30, 32, 34, 36 and 38 degreesC, 15%, 18%, 21%, 24% and 27% NaCl, and 20, 40, 60, 120, 180 and 240 min, respectively. Linear simple regression was used to fit database to Zugarramurdi and Lupin model. The models as fitted explained the 97.88-99.93% of the water concentration variation kinetics, and the 97.12-99.85% of the salt concentration variation kinetics at 95% confidence level. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.