Evaluation of spray-drying´s operable condition for obtaining orange juice powder: effects on physicochemical properties

Abstract

The objective of the present work was to determine the effects of the main variables of spray drying to obtain orange juice powder as an alternative method for the integral use of orange juice. The variables evaluated for the spray-drying were the air inlet temperature, feed flow, and maltodextrin concentration, which had a different degree of significance on the assessed responses, the air inlet temperature is the one that had a more significant degree on the moisture content (p ≤ 0.01) and polyphenol content (p ≤ 0.05). While the maltodextrin concentration was for the yield and moisture content (p ≤ 0.05). However, on the color attributes, no significant effects were observed under the evaluated variables. Therefore, using spray-drying an orange juice powder with stable physicochemical characteristics was obtained, using maltodextrin 7% (w/w) and 0.1% (w/v) sodium alginate as carrier agents, 160°C inlet air temperature, 14 mL/min feed flow, which will allow the use of this drying technology.