Abstract
Baru almond (Dipteryx alata Vogel) is a nutritional and tasty product; the flour of this product is used in culinary recipes. In the processing of the almond, the chemical composition and structure of the product changes, influencing the hygroscopicity of the material. Thus, the objective was to determine the behavior of the water activity of baru almond flour at different temperatures, adjusting the best mathematical model to estimate the isotherms, as well as to determine the isosteric heat of desorption. The almonds were dried for moisture contents in the range of 5.4 to 3.3 ± 0.03% dry basis (d.b.), then the almonds were processed in an industrial blender to obtain the flours. To determine the desorption isotherms, the static-indirect method was used, in which the water activity was obtained at temperatures of 10, 20, 30, and 40 ºC, using the Hygropalm Model Aw1 equipment. The hygroscopic equilibrium moisture content of baru almond flour was directly proportional to water activity and decreased with increasing temperature, to the same water activity value. The Chung-Pfost model was the one that best represented the product’s isotherms. The integral isosteric heat of desorption of baru almond flour ranged from 2590.69 to 2519.52 for the moisture content range of 3.24 to 5.43% d.b.
Highlights
Within the richness of native cerrado species, the baru (Dipteryx alata Vogel) stands out as a fruit with great commercial attributes due to its sweet pulp and edible almonds, with high nutritional content (Cruz et al, 2011)
The objective was to determine the behavior of the water activity of baru almond flour at different temperatures, adjusting the best mathematical model to estimate the isotherms, as well as to determine the isosteric heat of desorption
The almonds were dried for moisture contents in the range of 5.4 to 3.3 ± 0.03% dry basis (d. b.), the almonds were processed in an industrial blender to obtain the flours
Summary
Within the richness of native cerrado species, the baru (Dipteryx alata Vogel) stands out as a fruit with great commercial attributes due to its sweet pulp and edible almonds, with high nutritional content (Cruz et al, 2011). It is estimated that the nutritional content of almonds in natura is 22.96 g 100g-1 of protein, 31.73 g 100g-1 of total lipids, 37.13 g 100g-1 of carbohydrates; the microminerals in greatest quantity are: 1,810 mg 100g-1 of potassium, 380 mg 100g-1 of sulfur, 330 mg 100g-1 of magnesium, and 240 mg 100g-1 of calcium, in addition, this product is very rich in bioactive compounds (Borges et al, 2014; Campidelli et al, 2019). The valorization of this product has expanded in recent years there is still little information regarding the post-harvest processes about the baru fruits (Oliveira et al, 2016), especially the byproducts, such as the almond meal. Every plant product is hygroscopic, the water content of this material when in equilibrium with the psychrometric conditions of the air that surrounds it is considered as equilibrium water content (Corrêa et al, 2014)
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