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Evaluation of Chicory Roots Submitted to HTST Drying Process and Its Optimization
Author(s) -
SánchezSáenz Carolina M.,
Oliveira Rafael A.,
Park Kil J.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of food process engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.507
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1745-4530
pISSN - 0145-8876
DOI - 10.1111/jfpe.12126
Subject(s) - water content , inulin , pulp and paper industry , moisture , process (computing) , food science , texture (cosmology) , chemistry , process engineering , environmental science , energy consumption , materials science , mathematics , composite material , computer science , engineering , image (mathematics) , geotechnical engineering , electrical engineering , artificial intelligence , operating system
Drying of food and biological products has been prominent because of recovery of quality of life; considering this process ensures conservation of nutritional quality of product. It was intended in this project to submit chicory roots, rich in inulin, both fresh and frozen samples to a process of convective pre‐drying applying pulse of high temperature and short time ( HTST ). The objective was to determine the influence of pre‐drying in the final moisture content, texture and soluble solids content after extraction using chicory roots and assessing energy consumption ( kWh ) of process. It used central composite rotatable design 2 2 , with three central points (level 0). Thus, each factor was studied in five temperature levels (between 110 and 150C) and application time (between 0 and 28 min). The higher levels of variables presented the best results, both in moisture content and texture. Therefore, they were used in process optimization. Experimental runs with longer application times coincide with those of smaller moisture content and higher values of Y oung's modulus. The concentration of soluble solids did not vary in studied conditions levels, showing that the concentration of soluble solids was not influenced by factors in the process. The suggested models for moisture content and Y oung's modulus had satisfactory fitting to experimental data. The variables temperature and drying time were statistically significant for energy consumption of process. Practical Applications Chicory roots are a highly perishable product, requiring, from an industrial point of view, a short processing period. Thus, to enable a better dimensioning of an agro‐industrial plant to obtain inulin and ensure a continuous provision of product, it is required to study a way of making available the chicory root throughout the year. Then, drying would be an alternative to reduce the water activity of raw material, and consequently, extend storage time. Moreover, as HTST methodology ensure a better structure, the rehydration of dry roots will enable good inulin extraction, as it is carried out with hot water.