Obtenção e cacacterização de ovo em pó obtido em spray dryer piloto

Abstract

Chicken egg is a world-known and consumed food. Besides being a source of protein, it has many essential nutrients for the maintenance of life. However, the egg is very perishable by the action of the environment. One way to increase the shelf life of this food is to process it into powder. One technique widely used for this purpose is spray drying. In this context, the present work sought to obtain and physicochemical characterization of egg powder obtained by drying process in pilot spray dryer. The whole egg were homogenized on a shaker and subjected to a pilot scale spray dryer to obtain the powdered egg at the air inlet temperatures of 120, 130, 140 and 150 °C. The analyzes performed on the product were yield, total solids, water activity, moisture, ashes, minerals, lipids, proteins, particle size analysis and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The obtained powder product presented physical-chemical characteristics with values similar to those found in the literature, with the exception of the ash content. The properties related to the conservation of the product as moisture and water activity showed what indicates optimal storage conditions. The properties of water, moisture, ash, minerals, lipids, proteins and particle characteristics showed no influence on the choice of the best drying condition considering that all samples were within the values for the preservation and stability of the dried product. Thus, the best condition observed for powder egg drying by spray dryer drying on a pilot scale was for the air inlet temperature of 120 °C, which favored a lower energy expenditure.