Foam mat drying kinetics of jambolan and acerola mixed pulp

ABSTRACT Acerola and jambolan are fruits with several bioactive compounds of phenolic origin and a product made with these two raw materials appears to be a food with high antioxidant and nutraceutical potential. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the foam mat drying of the mixed pulp of jambolan and acerola. Mixed pulp formulations, containing 1.0% albumin with 0.5% xanthan gum (F1), 0.5% carboxymethylcellulose (F2) and 0.5% guar gum (F3), were dehydrated at 50, 60, 70 and 80 °C, with foam mat thickness of 0.5 cm. The elevation of the drying temperature decreased the water content and dehydration time of the samples. Formulation F3 obtained the shortest drying times; all drying models resulted in good adjustments, especially Midilli. Formulation F3 obtained greater effective diffusivity; the activation energy was higher in the F1 combination. The samples with albumin-guar (F3) showed greater enthalpy and entropy and samples with albumin-xanthan gum (F1) showed the highest Gibbs free energy. Foam mat drying is an efficient way of preserving the jambolan and acerola mixed pulp.