A new technique for spray drying concentrated orange juice using dehu
midified air as drying
mediu
m and
maltodextrin as drying agent was developed. A pilot-scale spray dryer was e
mployed for the spray drying process. The
modification
made to the original design consisted in connecting the dryer inlet air intake to an absorption air dryer. 21 DE, 12 DE, and 6 DE
maltodextrins were used as drying agents. Concentrated orange juice was spray dried at inlet air te
mperatures of 110, 120, 130, and 140 °C and (concentrated orange juice solids)/(
maltodextrin solids) ratios of 4, 2, 1, and 0.25. Data for the residue re
maining on the walls were gathered and the powders were analyzed for
moisture content, bulk density, rehydration, hygroscopicity, and degree of caking. The co
mbination of
maltodextrin addition and use of dehu
midified air was proved to be an effective way of reducing residue for
mation.
Industrial relevance
Orange juice powder has many benefits and economic potentials over its liquid counterparts and provides a stable, natural, easily dosable ingredient, which generally finds usage in many foods and pharmaceutical products such as flavoring and coloring agents. However, the dehydration of orange juice is not a simple task. Thus, the objective of this study was to develop a new technique for spray drying orange juice using dehumidified air as drying medium and maltodextrin as drying agent.