Contribución al estudio de la aplicación de ultrasonidos de alta intensidad en procesos de secado a baja temperatura.

Abstract

[EN] Dehydration is one of the most commonly used operations in the food industry, and although its aim is to extend the shelf life of foods by reducing their water activity, it could also involve quality degradation. Vacuum freeze-drying may be considered one of the best drying methods for the purposes of preserving the organoleptic and nutritional properties of the fresh product, but its high processing cost limits its use to high value-added products. Convective drying at low temperatures could be considered an alternative means of obtaining high quality products at lower cost. However, the low drying rates at low temperatures (T<20oC) and atmospheric pressure makes its industrial application difficult. In this sense, high intensity ultrasound (US) has been used to intensify mass transfer phenomena in food processing. It could be of great interest to apply US in low temperature drying because the ultrasonic effects are mainly mechanical (non-thermal). In this context, the main aim of this thesis was to determine the feasibility of US application in low temperature drying, addressing the effect on both the drying kinetics and the quality of the obtained products. For this purpose, apple, eggplant and cod samples were dried at different temperatures (-10, -5, 0, 5 and 10oC), air velocities (1, 2, 4 and 6 m/s) and applying different ultrasonic powers (0, 25, 50 and 75 W). Diffusion models were used to describe the drying kinetics and to quantify the influence of the process variables. Moreover, different quality parameters (rehydration capacity, texture, antioxidant capacity...) of the dried products were determined. The application of US significantly (p<0.05) shortened the drying time under every drying condition and with each product tested, reducing the drying time by up to 80, 87 and 60% in apple, eggplant and cod samples, respectively. Thus, the greater the ultrasonic power applied, the shorter the drying time. The drying temperature and air velocity influenced the US efficiency and the best performance was achieved at the lowest drying temperatures and air velocities. In general terms, the diffusion model adequately fitted the drying kinetics of the three products tested. Although, in the case of US assisted drying, a better fit of the experimental data was obtained when the external resistance to water transfer was considered. The URIF (Uniformly Retreating Ice Front) model successfully fitted the atmospheric freeze drying kinetics. This model was validated under different experimental conditions. As regards the effect of the process variables on the quality parameters, in overall terms, it was observed that neither the US application nor the air velocity greatly influenced the quality of the obtained products. However, the temperature affected some quality parameters, such as rehydration capacity and color, especially at temperatures below the samples' freezing point. Finally, as a technology employed for the purposes of obtaining porous food matrices to be used further in the development of functional…