Influence of Carrier Agents Concentrations and Inlet Temperature on the Physical Quality of Tomato Powder Produced by Spray Drying

Abstract

The study aims to obtain spray-dried tomato powders with a high and effective product yield and enhanced powder quality. The experiment for this investigation entailed the use of several carrier agents, which were maltodextrin (MD) of 4-7 dextrose equivalents (DE), MD of 10-12 DE, and gum Arabic (GA), each in varied concentrations of 5% and 10% with spray drying inlet temperatures of 140°C, 150°C, and 160°C. Powder yield, bulk density, hygroscopicity, moisture content, water solubility, water absorption, color properties, particle size, and powder morphology were all evaluated in spray-dried tomato powders. The results revealed that the stability of the tomato powder is considerably better at high temperatures and concentrations (at 10%, 160oC), with MD 4-7 DE being the best carrier agent among the three tested carrier agents. According to the powder analysis, the product has a moisture content of 3.17 ± 0.29%, the highest yield percentage of 32.1%, a low bulk density of 0.2943 ± 0.01 g/cm3, the lowest hygroscopicity at 5.67± 0.58 %, a high water solubility index (WSI) at 89.98 ± 1.25%, a low water absorption index (WAI) at 6.22 ± 0.22%, an intermediate particle size of 24.73 µm, and color L*, a*,b* values at 31.59 ± 0.03, 11.62 ± 0.08 and 13.32 ± 0.12. The result showed that at higher temperatures and higher concentrations, the powder characteristics are more likely to have a higher yield, WSI, and larger particle size, as well as lower bulk density, hygroscopicity, moisture content, WAI, and color index.