Flour production of acerola's industrial waste by solar and artificial drying

Abstract

Food preservation allows an increase in shelf life, maintains the organoleptic qualities of food for long periods. Drying is a form of conservation, where in the present work artificial and solar drying were performed using the equipment Watercone® of the acerola residue to evaluate the physicochemical characteristics. In comparison to the artificial drying, there was homogeneity in the loss of water mass of the samples with the solar drying. The value of the final humidity of the dehydrated product was considered satisfactory. The products obtained from the solar drying had color and aroma much more intense than the artificial drying, as well as the final yield was superior to the one found in the artificial drying. Physicochemical analyzes of the acerola residue meal were performed, highlighting the Aw parameters (0.463) indicating that it is one of the parameters that quantify shelf life of the product; the humidity (6.56%) being within the allowed by the specific
legislation for flour; Total ash (2.75%) which represents the presence of minerals in the flour; Insoluble fibers (50.35%). The values found in the analyzes are in agreement with those found by other researchers and by the legislation. Therefore, the solar drying using the Watercone® equipment meets the technical parameters of quality.