Secagem e armazenamento das sementes de noni

Abstract

Given the scarcity of work on the noni seeds (Morinda citrifolia L.), researching about it becomes relevant in order to estimate the useful life of this agricultural product, because of its popularity and properties. The objective of this paper was to characterize and study the drying kinetics in fixed bed dryer of noni seeds with and without fiber at temperatures of 40, 50, 60 and 70°C and 0.75 m/s as the average speed of drying air; evaluate the meal stability of noni seeds stored in two types of packaging (plastic and laminated) for 60 days at controlled temperature (30 ° C) and relative humidity (55%) and determine the moisture adsorption isotherms at temperatures of 20, 30 and 40°C of seed meal with and without fibers. The storage of data was submitted to a completely randomized design in a 7x2 factorial arrangement (7 storage times and 2 types of packaging) and averages comparison by Tukey test at 5% probability. The results of the drying kinetics models were adjusted by Henderson and Pabis, Two Terms, Logarithmic, Page and Thompson, obtaining coefficients of determination (R2) greater than 0.81 and average quadratic deviation (AQD) smaller than 0.58; whereas isotherms were adjusted for GAB, Peleg and Oswin models, obtaining coefficients of determination (R2) greater than 0.97 and average percentage deviations (P) lower than 10.05%. The presence of fibers resulted in an increase in seed drying time. During the storage of fiber seed meal (FSM) and the fiber without seed meal (FWS), there was an increase in water content, water activity and acidity, due to the decreasing of pH for the two samples. With regard to color, SCF and SSF meal had initially slight darkening, but stability during the days that followed the storage.