Premium
Use of Sorption Isotherms for the Estimation of Shelf Life of Two Zimbabwean Flours
Author(s) -
IkhuOmoregbe D. I. O.,
Chen X. D.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
developments in chemical engineering and mineral processing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1932-2143
pISSN - 0969-1855
DOI - 10.1002/apj.5500130109
Subject(s) - sorption , gravimetric analysis , water content , moisture , meal , water activity , chemistry , environmental chemistry , food science , organic chemistry , adsorption , geology , geotechnical engineering
The water sorption characteristics of two Zimbabwean flours, i.e. maize‐meal and millet, were obtained using the gravimetric method at temperatures of 20, 30 and 4Od̀C. The GAB, BET and the modified BET models were found to describe the data reasonably well. The heat of sorption, which varied from 1.915 kJ.mol −1 at 20% moisture content to 30.5 kJ.mol −1 at 1% moisture content dry‐basis was calculated for the maize meal. Similar values for the millet were found to vary from 1.87 kJ.mol −1 at 20% moisture content to 18.3 kJ.mol −1 at 1% moisture content. The shelf lives for both materials were estimated from the sorption data, and recommendations on packaging and storage conditions are suggested.