Definição de parâmetros para a secagem em camada de espuma (foam-mat drying) do juazeiro (ziziphus joazeiro)

Abstract

The Juá is a plant of the family of the Rhamnaceae, of scientific name ZIZIPHUS JOAZEIRO, also known like joá, joazeiro, juazeiro, among others. It is a tall tree, which reaches from 5m to 15m high, abundant, thorny. With coriaceous leaves, small flowers, globose fruit, about 3cm, yellow, edible. The barks of the bark of the juazeiro have several applications, the main one is to replace the soap in the places where the water is heavy, brackish (they keep a saponácea property). Tea and syrup made from zest and leaves can be used for medicinal purposes. Recently, various hygiene products and industrialized aesthetics have included juazeiro in the composition of its products. In a simple manner, drying is a process in which heat is supplied to a particular material for the purpose of peeling or evaporating the moisture content that exists in the core or surface thereof, thereby obtaining a moisture-free product, i.e. , dry. Foam-mat drying applies to the drying of liquid or semi-liquid foodstuffs, which are transformed into stable foam by the incorporation of air into their structure and the addition of emulsifying / stabilizing agents (when necessary ) and has the characteristic of adding high commercial value and quality to the products, offering great possibilities of commercialization and uses. The objective of this work is to define parameters for foam-mat drying in juá to obtain juá powder. The use of this method for the drying of juá showed good results. It was verified that all variables studied (agitation time, stirring speed and drying temperature) influenced the behavior of juá. The stirring speed and the time of agitation of the juice are the variables that most influence the drying of the juá.