No abstract

Dehydration of plant products extends its shelf life and reduces its mass and volume, which increases transport and storage efficiency and adds value to food. However, it is an intensive process in energy and time, making necessary the search for more efficient technologies, Thus, this study aimed to investigate the infrared ginger dehydration process by approaching the constant period of dehydration to the theory of mass and heat transfer process to the wet bulb thermometer and the decreasing period of dehydration to liquid diffusion theory. We submitted 5.0 mm thickness and 2.0 cm diameter slices to a dryer with infrared radiation at 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 and 100 °C until constant mass. Heat and mass transfer coefficients, and effective diffusion coefficient increased linearly with temperature increasing, resulting in values ranging from 69.40 to 92.23 W m-2 °C-1, 0.062 to 0.089 m s-1 and 3.81 x 10-9 to 1.13 x 10-8 m2 s-1. Variation of heat and mass transfer coefficients was described by a linear model and the variation of effective diffusion coefficient with the temperature was described with the Arrhenius relation, whose activation energy was 22.07 kJ mol-1. The modified Henderson and Pabis model was able to satisfactorily describe the period of decreasing drying rate.

Lactuca sativa seeds are highly sensitive to climate conditions; thus, they should be stored securely to maintain their qualitative and quantitative characteristics. Studies on hygroscopicity aim to decrease possible changes in agricultural products under specific environmental conditions. Accordingly, this study aims to develop an appropriate mathematical model to represent the desorption isotherms of Lactuca sativa seeds. The hygroscopic equilibrium was achieved using a static-gravimetric method at temperatures of 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 °C and water activity in the range 0.11-0.96. Six mathematical models were fitted to the experimental data of the equilibrium moisture content of Lactuca sativa seeds. The best model was chosen based on the determination coefficient (R2), magnitude of mean relative error (MRE), standard deviation of the estimate (SDE), and analysis of residue distribution. The modified Oswin model best represented the hygroscopicity of the Lactuca sativa seeds, with values of 8.02% and 0.55 for the MRE and SDE, respectively; moreover, the residual values were randomly distributed. The shape of the isotherms of the Lactuca sativa seeds estimated using the modified Oswin model is sigmoidal, which is characteristic of a type II curve.

The present research aimed to study the water sorption behavior of quinoa seeds analyzing the hysteresis phenomenon and determining thermodynamic properties. Static gravimetric technique was used to obtain the equilibrium moisture content of quinoa seeds in different temperature conditions (15, 25, 35 e 50 °C) and relative humidity (between 11 and 96%). Equilibrium moisture content data were adjusted by eight mathematical models and the Modified Halsey model was the best one to describe the water sorption phenomena of quinoa seeds. Hygroscopic equilibrium moisture content of quinoa seeds is directly proportional to the water activity and decreases with increasing temperature. The hysteresis phenomena were observed throughout the range of water activity, showing more evident at low temperatures. Integral isosteric heat and differential entropy decreased with the increase of equilibrium moisture content. Gibbs free energy decreased with the increase of temperature and equilibrium moisture content. Compensation enthalpyentropy theory was confirmed and the sorption mechanism is controlled by enthalpy.

This study aimed to determine the thermodynamic properties of sorption processes (desorption and adsorption) of rice in the husk, cv. Urucuia. A static-gravimetric method was used to reach equilibrium moisture content at different temperatures (10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 °C ± 1°C) and relative humidity levels (10, 30, 50, 70, and 90 % ± 2%). A decrease in moisture content led to an increment of the integral isosteric heat of sorption, indicating a higher demand for energy to remove moisture from the product. Differential entropy of sorption decreased along with a moisture content increment, with higher values for desorption. This indicates a higher mobility of water molecules during desorption if compared to adsorption. Gibbs free energy decreased with increasing temperature in both processes, with positive values for desorption (endothermic process), and negative for adsorption (exothermic process). The enthalpy-entropy compensation theory is valid for both sorption phenomena (desorption and adsorption) of rice in the husk, being both processes enthalpy controlled.

Knowledge of the movement of water molecules inside material is important for the study of interactions between water and chemical components of agricultural products. The thermodynamic properties calculation reports this need, being the source of information to design drying equipment, calculate the energy required in this process and evaluate the physical phenomena that occur on the food surface. Given the importance of the subject, the objective of this study was to determine the thermodynamic properties of the water desorption process in lettuce seeds. Lettuce seeds had an initial moisture content of 9.3% (d.b.). The equilibrium moisture content of seeds was determined by static gravimetric method at different temperatures (10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 ± 1 °C) and relative humidity values (between 11 and 96%). Experiments were conducted in triplicate. It was observed that, with increasing equilibrium moisture content, there was a reduction in the energy required for evaporation of water in lettuce seeds, with values of integral isosteric heat of desorption in the water content range 2.1 to 21.2% (d.b.) which varied from '4164.89 to 2477.43' kJ kg -1 . With increasing equilibrium moisture content there was a decrease in differential entropy, resulting in lower demand for mobility of water molecules. The Gibbs free energy also decreased with increasing equilibrium moisture content and was positive for all temperatures studied, showing non-spontaneity of water desorption in the seeds. The enthalpy-entropy compensation theory was has been satisfactorily applied to the sorption phenomenon and the water desorption process in lettuce seeds was controlled by enthalpy. Key words: Differential enthalpy. Differential entropy. Enthalpy-entropy compensation theory. Equilibrium moisture content. Gibbs free energy. Isosteric heat. ResumoO conhecimento da movimentação das moléculas de água dentro do material é importante para o correto estudo das interações entre a água e os componentes químicos dos produtos agrícolas. O cálculo das propriedades termodinâmicas relata essa necessidade, sendo fonte de informação para projetar equipamentos de secagem, calcular a energia requerida nesse processo e avaliar os fenômenos físicos que ocorrem na superfície dos alimentos. Diante da importância do assunto, o objetivo do presente trabalho foi determinar as propriedades termodinâmicas do processo de dessorção de água em sementes de alface. As sementes de alface possuíam teor de água inicial de 9,3% (b.s. equilíbrio das sementes foi determinado pelo método estático-gravimétrico para diferentes valores de temperatura (10, 20, 30, 40 e 50 ± 1 °C) e atividade de água (entre 11 e 96%), em três repetições. De acordo com os resultados encontrados, observou-se que com o aumento do teor de água de equilíbrio, ocorre redução da energia necessária para a evaporação da água nas sementes de alface, sendo que os valores do calor isostérico integral de dessorção, na faixa de teor de água de 2,1 a 21,2% (b.s.), variaram de 4164,89 a 2477,43 kJ kg -1 ...

The development and improvement of fruit processing technologies in powder form is a alternative to add value to the product and increase the income of the producers, being required the knowledge of physicalchemical properties of the product. The aim of this study was to determine the physical-chemical properties of soursop powder obtained by foam-mat drying. To the foam formation, albumin was added to the pulp at concentration of 7.43% in mass and subjected in mixer for 15 min; then, it was spread onto trays forming a thin layer about 5.0 mm thick, and the drying conditions were: 40, 50, 60, 70 and 80 °C, 5.6 m s -1 and 60%. Moisture content, water activity, titratable total acidity and hydrogenic potential of soursop powder indicate good stability of the product obtained by foam-mat drying, without the need of addition of preservatives for its conservation. Reducing sugars increased with increasing drying temperature due to the concentration of the compounds caused by moisture content reduction. In addition, the color was the physical-chemical property that presented greater sensitivity to drying, mainly by darkening index. Temperatures lower than 60 °C indicate higher preservation of initial characteristics for soursop powder. Besides that, bulk density, true density, porosity and repose angle increased subtly with drying temperature.

Studies about the thermodynamic properties of ryegrass seeds are necessary to improve post-harvest processes, relating the factors that affect product quality with the interaction between water and its chemical components. Given the importance of recognizing and understanding the intrinsic behavior of water in ryegrass seeds and providing data for the improvement of industrial drying equipment, this work aimed to calculate and evaluate the thermodynamic properties of moisture desorption of ryegrass seeds as a function of the equilibrium moisture content. Ryegrass seeds with initial moisture content of 10.4 (% d.b.) was used. The equilibrium moisture content of seeds was determined by static-gravimetric method at different temperatures (10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 °C) and water activity values (between 0.10 and 0.90), in three repetitions. The Chung Pfost model presented the best fit to the experimental data. It was observed that the integral isosteric desorption heat increased as the equilibrium moisture content decreased, ranged from 2499.95 to 4241.96 kJ kg-1 in the moisture content range 2.80 to 22.10 (% d.b.). Differential entropy also increased with decreasing equilibrium moisture content, as did Gibbs free energy, being positive for all temperature studied, indicating that ryegrass seeds desorption is a non-spontaneous process. The enthalpy-entropy compensation theory was satisfactorily applied to the sorption phenomenon, being controlled by enthalpy.