Secagem solar da polpa e casca da banana cv. prata: estudo do processo cinético e caracterização físico-química.

Abstract

The banana is the second most consumed fruit in Brazil and is quite appreciated due to its flavor and nutritional value. From the pulp processing, the husk is the main residue, which is rich in fibers, minerals, vitamins and carbohydrates. Due to its high water activity, the banana has high perishability, thus needing to be subjected to some processing, such as drying, a technique commonly used that consists of removing water from the fruit providing a longer useful life. This technique can be conducted by solar drying that uses clean and renewable energy, giving the consumer a healthy product with a high nutritional value. The objective of this work was to study the drying kinetics of the sliced pulp in 0.5 cm and 1.0 cm and the peel with and without bleaching and to evaluate the effects of the drying process and pre-treatments on the total soluble solids, acidity total titratable, reducing sugars, pH and luminosity. In order to represent the behavior of the drying curves, the mathematical models of Page, Henderson and Pabis and Midilli and Kucuk were used. Regarding the results, the mathematical model that best represented the drying process of banana slices and silver banana peel with a coefficient of determination (R²), greater than 99% was that of Midilli and Kucuk for all treatments studied. The banana sliced in 0.5 cm and the peel with bleaching showed higher drying speeds. Regarding physical-chemical analyzes, dehydration had an effect on the product's characteristics.