Cinética de secagem e características físico-químicas de farinhas de frutos de Spondias purpurea L. em cinco estádios de maturação.

Abstract

Fruits of Spondias purpurea L. are highly perishable. Drying to obtain flour is a way of reducing post-harvest losses and diversifying the food market. The objective was to analyze the drying kinetics and the physico-chemical quality of S. purpurea fruit flours in five maturation stages. S. purpurea fruits at five ripening stages were harvested, cleaned, dried, crushed and sieved to obtain flour. Drying kinetics, mathematical modeling, yield, humidity, total titratable acidity (AT), pH, reducing sugars (AR), soluble solids (SS), ascorbic acid (AsA), phenolic compounds (CF), chlorophyll, carotenoids, flavonoids, anthocyanins, color (L *, a *, b *, C *, h ° and darkening index (IE)), density, Carr Index (IC) and the Hausner Factor (HF) were evaluated. Flours of S. purpúrea were obtained after 600 minutes of drying. The Midilli and Logarithmic models were the ones that best fit the experimental data. The yield, humidity, pH, AR, flavonoids and anthocyanins contents were higher in the flours of ripe fruits, while the AT, AsA, chlorophylls, phenolic compounds and the density were lower. The color varied from greenish to reddish. The IC and HF did not differ. Drying S. purpurea fruits is a viable way to make a new product with a long shelf life available on the market.