Dehydration of Prebiotic Fruit Drinks by Spray Drying: Operating Conditions and Powder Characterization

The aim of this work was to determine the best operating condition for spray drying prebiotic pineapple, melon, and orange drinks. Maltodextrin and Arabic gum were evaluated as drying adjuvant at two different drying temperatures (160 and 180 A degrees C). The best operating condition was inlet air temperature of 180 A degrees C, atomizer nozzle flow rate at 30 L/min, inlet air-drying flow rate at 3.5 m(3)/min and feed flow rate at 0.3 L/h with 20 % (m/m) of maltodextrin. The powders presented low water activity (a (w) a parts per thousand currency signaEuro parts per thousand 0.200) and low moisture (0.267-0.733 %). The rehydration time ranged from 90 to 144 s, the powder hygroscopicity from 5.17 to 7.48 % in dry basis, and the degree of caking from 24 to 67 %. The instrumental color difference was below the threshold for the human eye perception for all drinks.