MOREIRA, Flávia Izabely Nunes.
Abstract:
The banana (Musa spp.) Is the most consumed fruit in Brazil, an important part of the income of small producers, but also the power of the population. Being a fruit rich in water, bananas are highly perishable, hence the importance of the use of techniques for conservation. This study aimed to study the process of solar drying of banana, review of three mathematical models which describe the behavior of banana drying curves. It also evaluated the effect of three pre-treatments on the physicochemical characteristics (total acidity, ascorbic acid, reducing sugar and color, expressed by luminosity) of dehydrated banana. Regarding the results of the drying process, the model Midilli and Kucuk is what best represents the drying curves with R2 above 99% and reduced root mean square deviation (DQM). According to the results of physico-chemical characterization of the samples, the solar drying process significantly alter the physico-chemical characteristics of the dried sample compared bananas in nature. In general, the dehydrated samples in the studied treatments did not differ significantly from each other in the analyzed parameters. The climate of the city of Pombal, in the hinterlands Paraibano demonstrated great potential for the application of solar drying process.
