Premium
Water droplet spreading and recoiling upon contact with thick–compact maltodextrin agglomerates
Author(s) -
MerazTorres Lesvia Sofía,
QuintanillaCarvajal María Ximena,
TéllezMedina Darío I,
HernándezSánchez Humberto,
AlamillaBeltrán Liliana,
GutiérrezLópez Gustavo F
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of the science of food and agriculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1097-0010
pISSN - 0022-5142
DOI - 10.1002/jsfa.4631
Subject(s) - agglomerate , maltodextrin , wetting , penetration (warfare) , materials science , contact angle , compaction , dissolution , composite material , chemical engineering , chemical physics , nanotechnology , chemistry , chromatography , organic chemistry , operations research , engineering , spray drying
BACKGROUND: The food and pharmaceutical industries handle a number of compounds in the form of agglomerates which must be put into contact with water for rehydration purposes. In this work, liquid‐solid interaction between water and maltodextrin thick–compact agglomerates was studied at different constituent particle sizes for two compression forces (75 and 225 MPa). RESULTS: Rapid droplet spreading was observed which was similar in radius to the expected one for ideal, flat surfaces. Contact angle determinations reported oscillations of this parameter throughout the experiments, being indicative of droplet recoiling on top of the agglomerate. Recoiling was more frequent in samples obtained at 225 MPa for agglomerate formation. Agglomerates obtained at 75 MPa exhibited more penetration of the water. Competition between dissolution of maltodextrin and penetration of the water was, probably, the main mechanism involved in droplet recoiling. Micrographs of the wetting marks were characterized by means of image analysis and the measurements suggested more symmetry of the wetting mark at higher compression force. CONCLUSION: Differences found in the evaluated parameters for agglomerates were mainly due to compaction force used. No significant effect of particle size in recoiling, penetration of water into the agglomerate, surface texture and symmetry was observed. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry