Abstract
ABSTRACT ‘Babassu’ mesocarp flour has been used by the pharmaceutical, human food and animal feed industries. However, there is lack of standardization in the production, as well as absence of information on the management of the product’s quality. Thus, the objective of this study was to dry the ‘babassu’ mesocarp in forced-air oven and solar dryer, adjust different mathematical models to the experimental data, as well as to quantify the levels of proteins and crude fiber of the produced flour. The criteria for the adjustment were the coefficient of determination, magnitude of the mean relative error, standard deviation of estimate and the residual distribution trend. Drying in the shortest time occurred in oven at 60 °C (370 min), leading to water content of 4.62%, while in the solar dryer the final water content was 8.07% in 6 days. The mathematical model Two Terms showed the best fit to the experimental data for oven drying and the Midilli model showed the best fit in solar dryer. There was an increase in protein content with the drying in solar dryer and oven at 40, 50 and 60 °C (1.36, 1.33, 1.15 and 1.37%, respectively) in relation to fresh mesocarp (0.88%). Drying in both oven and solar dryer promoted increase of protein in the flour.
Highlights
The potentials of ‘babassu’ palm are innumerous, from energy generation to handicraft
This study aimed to describe the drying kinetics of ‘babassu’ mesocarp using a solar dryer and forced-air oven, fit different models to the experimental data and quantify protein and fiber in the produced flours after drying
The oven drying at temperatures of 40, 50 and 60 oC required times of 730, 430 and 370 min, respectively, to reach the equilibrium water content (7.61, 5.83 and 4.62%, respectively) (Figure 1A)
Summary
The potentials of ‘babassu’ palm are innumerous, from energy generation to handicraft. Its fruit has economic potential for technological and industrial purposes, and can produce approximately 64 products (BRASIL, 2009a); for instance, the mesocarp is used in the pharmaceutical (Barros, 2011), animal feed and human food industries (Souza et al, 2011; Rostagno et al, 2011). ‘Babassu’ flour can be obtained through natural or artificial drying, and its quality depends on various factors including raw material, drying method, techniques of procedure and form of storage (Borges et al, 2009). There is little information in the literature on the drying kinetics or even about the effect of the management of ‘babassu’ mesocarp on the quality of the produced flour
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