Theo Guenter Kieckbusch

Glass transition control of the detachment of food pastes dried over glass plates

A drying chamber with a device that allows the spreading of a uniform film of food paste over glass plates was developed with the purpose of evaluating the drying of paste-like materials assisted by the movement of solid bodies. The chamber temperature and the water content of the dried film made of maltodextrin, gum arabic or sugar cane molasses, were determined at the instant of detachment from the solid surface and compared with an empirically determined glass transition temperature curve. The results indicated that the detachment mechanism was controlled by the glass transition of the material. The lower the glass transition temperature of the film, the drier the film should be for detachment to occur. Thus the glass transition phenomenon can be used as a reference for the optimization of drying processes of paste-like material, as a guide for the design of dryers or in the formulation of food pastes.

Extraction of caffeine, chlorogenic acids and lipids from green coffee beans using supercritical carbon dioxide and co-solvents

The paper reports on experimental data on the extraction of caffeine, coffee oil and chlorogenic acids from green coffee beans using pure supercritical CO2 and supercritical CO2 modified with ethanol (5% w/w) and isopropyl alcohol (5% w/w) at 50 and 60oC and 15.2 24.8 e 35.2 MPa. In this study extraction kinetics were obtained for all assays i.e. samples were collected at several time intervals for each solvent and mixed solvent. When pure CO2 and CO2-ethanol mixed solvent were used, an increase in pressure resulted in an increase in the amount of oil extracted. When CO2 was modified with isopropyl alcohol, the amount of coffee oil extracted also increased with pressure. Caffeine extraction initially increased and subsequently decreased with pressure. Chlorogenic acids were only extracted when isopropyl alcohol was used as a co-solvent. An increase in extraction temperature resulted in a decrease of caffeine and oil extraction (retrograde condensation) when only CO2 was used as solvent. With the use of co-solvent this retrograde behavior was no longer observed and the increase in temperature resulted in the increase in the extracted amounts of caffeine, coffee oil and chlorogenic acids.

Crystallization modifiers in lipid systems

Crystallization of fats is a determinant physical event affecting the structure and properties of fat-based products. The stability of these processed foods is regulated by changes in the physical state of fats and alterations in their crystallization behavior. Problems like polymorphic transitions, oil migration, fat bloom development, slow crystallization and formation of crystalline aggregates stand out. The change of the crystallization behavior of lipid systems has been a strategic issue for the processing of foods, aiming at taylor made products, reducing costs, improving quality, and increasing the applicability and stability of different industrial fats. In this connection, advances in understanding the complex mechanisms that govern fat crystallization led to the development of strategies in order to modulate the conventional processes of fat structuration, based on the use of crystallization modifiers. Different components have been evaluated, such as specific triacyglycerols, partial glycerides (monoacylglycerols and diacylglycerols), free fatty acids, phospholipids and emulsifiers. The knowledge and expertise on the influence of these specific additives or minor lipids on the crystallization behavior of fat systems represents a focus of current interest for the industrial processing of oils and fats. This article presents a comprehensive review on the use of crystallization modifiers in lipid systems, especially for palm oil, cocoa butter and general purpose fats, highlighting: i) the removal, addition or fractionation of minor lipids in fat bases; ii) the use of nucleating agents to modify the crystallization process; iii) control of crystallization in lipid bases by using emulsifiers. The addition of these components into lipid systems is discussed in relation to the phenomena of nucleation, crystal growth, morphology, thermal behavior and polymorphism, with the intention of providing the reader with a complete panorama of the associated mechanisms with crystallization of fats and oils.

Ascorbic Acid Thermal Degradation during Hot Air Drying of Camu-Camu (Myrciaria dubia [H.B.K.] McVaugh) Slices at Different Air Temperatures

Abstract Air drying of camu-camu slices was performed in order to estimate the effect of air temperature on the kinetics of ascorbic acid thermal degradation. Moisture variation during the air drying process was monitored gravimetrically by weighing the trays at predetermined time intervals. The experimental points were adjusted by Ficks diffusion model and by the Page empirical model. The effective diffusion coefficient (Deff) ranged from 8.48 × 10−10 to 1.34 × 10−9 m2/s.The ascorbic acid content was evaluated in samples taken during the drying process using Iodine titration, and the results modeled by the Weibull equation. Concerning ascorbic acid retention the best drying condition required air at 50°C. The ascorbic acid retention was 78%, when the moisture content of the product reached 10% (wet basis).

Morphological and Physicochemical Characterization of Commercial Maltodextrins with Different Degrees of Dextrose-Equivalent

Maltodextrins show increasing industrial applications depending on the extent of the starch hydrolysis. This paper reports a relationship between morphological and physico-chemical characteristics of different maltodextrins (A, B, and C) in order to establish appropriate uses. The moisture content of the maltodextrins varied from 2.82 to 6.47% and true and bulk density, average particle size, and porosity of the maltodextrins ranged from 1.14–1.44 g/mL, 0.33–0.49 g/mL, 39.44–289.17 μm, and 59.70–67.58%, respectively. Spherical, irregular, and filamentous shapes conduct to low values of wetting times. The increase in the DE level of maltodextrins from the same botanical source caused a decrease in the dissolution time. Results demonstrated that products obtained by supplier B showed the best performance and regularity in the dissolution/dispersion characteristics in water meanwhile maltodextrins manufactured by supplier A would be favored by an agglomeration process.

Influence of Drying Conditions on Physical Properties of Alginate Films

The effect of drying conditions of the film-forming solution on thickness, moisture content, water vapor permeability, and tensile properties of alginate films were investigated. A long period of constant rate was observed in all conditions and the model proposed by Wang and Singh was able to adjust the drying data. As expected, there was a clear effect of temperature on drying kinetics; that is, increasing the drying temperature decreased the drying time. Considerable glycerol losses were observed when alginate gel was oven dried at temperatures above 40°C. Compared to other drying conditions, films oven dried at 60°C were thinner, had lower moisture content, and were less flexible.

Supercritical CO2 recovery of caffeine from green coffee oil: new experimental solubility data and modeling

The caffeine solubility in supercritical CO2 was studied by assessing the effects of pressure and temperature on the extraction of green coffee oil (GCO). The Peng-Robinson1 equation of state was used to correlate the solubility of caffeine with a thermodynamic model and two mixing rules were evaluated: the classical mixing rule of van der Waals with two adjustable parameters (PR-VDW) and a density dependent one, proposed by Mohamed and Holder2 with two (PR-MH, two parameters adjusted to the attractive term) and three (PR-MH3 two parameters adjusted to the attractive and one to the repulsive term) adjustable parameters. The best results were obtained with the mixing rule of Mohamed and Holder2 with three parameters.

Physical evaluation of biodegradable films of calcium alginate plasticized with polyols

The influence of different polyols as plasticizers of alginate films on their physical attributes like moisture content, soluble mass in water, water uptake, water vapor permeability, opacity and mechanical properties were determined and the results discussed based on scanning electron microscopy observations and glass transition temperature. The alginate films were obtained by casting, using three different gramatures. Calcium crosslinked and non-reticulated films were considered. The films plasticized with glycerol and xylitol were more hygroscopic than the films with mannitol. The lowest water vapor permeability values were found for films plasticized with mannitol, at all studied thicknesses. The films plasticized with glycerol and xylitol showed very similar functional attributes regarding their application as food wrappings. The Ca2+ crosslinked mannitol films showed the highest tensile strength at rupture (>140 MPa).

Cooling parameters for fruits and vegetables of different sizes in a hydrocooling system

The cooling of fruits and vegetables in hydrocooling system can be a suitable technique. This work aimed to define cooling time for fruits and vegetables of different sizes, presenting practical indexes that could be used to estimate cooling time for produce with similar characteristics. Fruits (orange melon-Cucumis melo, mango-Mangifera indica, guava-Psidium guajava, orange-Citrus sinensis Osbeck, plum-Prunus domestica, lime-Citrus limon, and acerola-Prunus cerasus) and vegetables (cucumber-Cucumis sativus, carrot-Daucus carota, and green bean-Phaseolus vulgaris), were cooled in a hydrocooling system at 1°C. The volume of fruits and vegetables ranged between 8.18 cm3 and 1,150.35 cm3, and between 13.06 cm3 and 438.4 cm3, respectively. Cooling time varied proportionally to produce volume (from 8.5 to 124 min for fruits, and from 1.5 to 55 min, for vegetables). The relationship between volume and time needed to cool fruits (from 1.03 min cm-3 to 0.107 min cm-3) and vegetables (from 0.06 min cm-3 to 0.12 min cm-3) is an index that could be used to estimate cooling time for fruits and vegetables with similar dimensions as those presented in this work.

Liberação de benzoato de cálcio de filmes de alginato de sódio reticulados com íons cálcio

Alginate-based biofilms were reticulated with Ca++ supplied by two sources, calcium chloride and benzoate, and using glycerol as plasticizer. The strong gelling power of the Ca++ ions hindered smooth casting procedures, so that films with low degree of reticulation were initially manufactured (1st stage). These films were further crosslinked with an excess of Ca++ by immersion in a solution of 3 to 7% of CaCl2.2H2O (2nd stage). The release of sorbate was evaluated considering different active agent concentrations in the film and two levels of alginate crosslinking. The mechanism involved in the diffusional process was investigated using the Power Law Model. The results indicated that potassium sorbate diffusion in alginate films has characteristics of Fickian and non-Fickian behavior. Effective diffusion coefficients obtained using the solution in series derived from Fick’s Second Law are close to values obtained with the short-time solution, with effective diffusivities varying from 3 to 5 × 10-7 cm2/s. The diffusivity values decreased with the degree of reticulation and increase with benzoate concentration in the film.