111-10 |
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J. WELTI-CHANES1, R. Torres, A. Díaz, A. Cid, and V. Ortíz de Montellano. (1) Ingenieria Quimica y Alimentos, Universidad de las Americas-Puebla, Cholula, Puebla, 72820, Mexico With the globalization of the market more and more food products and ingredients are moving from their original regions to other localized far away, with this situation food preservation processes are required to preserve the particular characteristic of each food or ingredient. In the case of aromatic herbs their flavor is the most important aspect that the consumer is looking and their commercialization as fresh is a special challenger and in most of these cases the dehydration process is used to preserve the freshness characteristics. In this study are presented the results obtained to apply air dehydration process to three different aromatic herbs: Parsley (Petroselium sativum), Skunkweed or Epazote (Chenopodium ambrosiodes L.), and Coriander or Cilantro (Coriandrum sativus).The effect of three bulb dry temperatures (45, 50, 55°C), four bulk densities (30, 45, 120 and 251 Kg/m3) on the drying rate and final quality (sensory evaluation and rehydration rate) were evaluated. Skunkweed showed higher drying rates and coriander the lowest under all the conditions proved; with final times ranked between 4 and 16 hours to reach average moisture of 5-10% (m.b).Temperature increase and bulk density reduction favored the drying process and product quality. Temperature increased between 45 to 50°C provoked a 50% reduction in the time to reach defined moisture levels for the three herbs; however the increase to 55°C was a minor effect on the drying time. Data obtained was used to modeling process using different conditions to here study and to propose changing conditions processes oriented to improve the final herbs quality. Neuronal networks showed as a possible tool to model the drying process with the products studied here.
Session 111, Food Engineering: Modeling heat transfer and microbial inactivation
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