F. M. Botelho

Effects of the mechanical damage on the water absorption process by corn kernel

The purpose of this study was to investigate and model the water absorption process by corn kernels with different levels of mechanical damage Corn kernels of AG 1510 variety with moisture content of 14.2 (% d.b.) were used. Different mechanical damage levels were indirectly evaluated by electrical conductivity measurements. The absorption process was based on the industrial corn wet milling process, in which the product was soaked with a 0.2% sulfur dioxide (SO2) solution and 0.55% lactic acid (C3H6O3) in distilled water, under controlled temperatures of 40, 50, 60, and 70 oC and different mechanical damage levels. The Peleg model was used for the analysis and modeling of water absorption process. The conclusion is that the structural changes caused by the mechanical damage to the corn kernels influenced the initial rates of water absorption, which were higher for the most damaged kernels, and they also changed the equilibrium moisture contents of the kernels. The Peleg model was well adjusted to the experimental data presenting satisfactory values for the analyzed statistic parameters for all temperatures regardless of the damage level of the corn kernels.

Thermodynamic properties of drying process and water absorption of rice grains

ABSTRACT This study aimed to obtain the drying and water absorption curves of husk rice grain (Oryza sativa L.), cv. Urucuia, as well as the thermodynamic properties. Five temperatures (35°C, 45°C, 55°C, 65°C and 75°C) were used. Two terms, logarithmic, modified Midilli, Page and Verma models were used to model the drying process, and the Peleg model was used to model the soaking process. The modified Midilli and Peleg models satisfactorily accounted for the processes of drying and absorption of water, respectively. The activation energy for the drying and soaking was 51.03 and 37.06 kJ mol−1, respectively. The enthalpy and entropy decreased with increasing temperature, regardless of the process. Their values ranged between −6.60 and 48.47 kJ mol−1 and between −0.1084 and −0.2464 kJ mol−1 K−1 for enthalpy and entropy, respectively. The Gibbs free energy increased with increasing temperature, with values between 69.36 and 86.22 kJ mol−1.