Spouted bed drying of papaya seeds for oil production

Abstract

In this investigation, the spouted bed drying technique was used to obtain high quality dried papaya seeds, for subsequent oil production. Some operational variables were studied aiming to improve the moisture reduction, oil production and fatty acids profile. The effects of controlled variables, such as, temperature (T), air velocity (V) and drying time (t) on the drying characteristics were evaluated by a rotational central composite design (RCCD). The results showed that the spouted bed dryer, independent of the experimental condition, provided papaya seeds with adequate moisture content for storage and posterior processing. The more adequate drying condition, to obtain high oil extraction yield was air temperature of 70 °C, air velocity of 10.50 m s−1 and drying time of 4 h. In this condition, the oil extraction yield was 26.50 g/100 g. The papaya seeds oil presented about 72 g/100 g of oleic acid. These results demonstrated that the spouted bed drying is an alternative technique to obtain dried papaya seeds, which are source to produce high quality oil.