Uso de diferentes metodologias na secagem da jabuticaba e seus impactos nos compostos bioativos

Abstract

Fruit growing is one of the prominent sectors in Brazilian agribusiness, with Brazil being one of the largest fruit producers in the world. In the fruit production chain, processes that allow increasing the shelf life or reusing these foods, such as drying, are advantageous. However, the use of appropriate methodologies in drying is essential for the conservation of the product's properties. Drying jabuticaba (Myrciaria sp.) fruits to obtain the powdered product can have several advantages and contribute to the preservation of the high content of beneficial health compounds contained in the fruit. This study aimed to evaluate the drying process of jabuticaba (whole fruit) by spray dryer and microwave and evaluate the impacts of these methodologies on the final products. In spray drying, the effect of four independent variables was verified: drying air temperature (°C); drying air flow (m³/min); % maltodextrin and feed flow rate (l/h). In microwave drying, the impact of potency and maltodextrin concentration was evaluated. The response variables analyzed for both methodologies were: moisture, total phenolic compounds, total flavonoids, total titratable acidity, ascorbic acid content and color. For the spray dryer, the yield of the powder obtained was also analyzed. Drying in a spray dryer resulted in powders with a color ranging from light pink to dark pink and with low humidity (below 5%). There were good retentions of bioactive compounds, with an impact of all variables, mainly under higher temperatures (above 105°C), lower concentrations of maltodextrin (15%) and low feed flow (0.5 l/h). The use of microwaves also showed good results, but the powder obtained showed a dark color due to loss of luminosity due to a possible carbonization of the product. There was a negative effect of the use of maltodextrin and, in general, the best results were in the experiments with intermediate potencies (280 to 490W) and without the use of the carrier agent.