Influence of the Process Parameters and Sugar Granulometry on Cocoa
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Journal of Food Engineering 97 (2010) 283–291 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Food Engineering journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jfoodeng Influence of the process parameters and sugar granulometry on cocoa beverage powder steam agglomeration F.Z. Vissotto a,*, L.C. Jorge a, G.T. Makita a, M.I. Rodrigues b, F.C. Menegalli b a Cereal and Chocolate Technology Center (CEREAL CHOCOTEC), Institute of Food Technology (ITAL), Caixa Postal 139, CEP 13070-178, Campinas, S.P., Brazil b Department of Food Engineering (DEA), School of Food Engineering (FEA), University of Campinas (UNICAMP), CEP 13083-970, Campinas, S.P., Brazil article info abstract Article history: The objective of this research was to evaluate the effects of the steam agglomeration process variables on Received 30 March 2009 the characteristics of cocoa beverage powders. A pilot scale agglomerator was used in the tests. For the Received in revised form 5 October 2009 cocoa beverage powder formulated with granulated sugar, most common commercial product, the Accepted 11 October 2009 increase in solids feed rate (400–700 g/min) led to a decrease in the mean particle diameter (400 g/min Available online 24 November 2009 – 564.70 lm, 700 g/min – 438.40 lm) and an increase in the dryer rotation (12–52 rpm) led to an increase in the product moisture (12 rpm – 1.52% w.b., 52 rpm – 1.88% w.b.). The changing from 1.0  102 to Keywords: 1.8  102 kPa of the vapor pressure resulted in an increase in moisture of the cocoa beverage powder Steam agglomeration (1.0 102 kPa – 1.46% w.b., 1.8 102 kPa – 1.94% w.b.) and the intensification of the yellow color of the Cocoa beverage powder   2 2 Powder product (1.0  10 kPa – 14.51, 1.8  10 kPa – 15.17). Wettability Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Insolubility Wet granulation 1. Introduction reducing the fines in the final product and during handling on the manufacturing lines. The process also makes it possible to pro- In Brazil the majority of the cocoa beverage powders found on duce more attractive powdered products (both in appearance and the market are formulated with sugar, which can be crystal or sensory properties) and decrease the apparent density, as well as granulated, maltodextrin and cocoa powder, and can also contain reducing the tendency to cake during storage (Iveson et al., 2001; skimmed milk powder and milk whey. The amount of cocoa used Knight, 2001; Maurel, 1994; Palzer, 2005). Various techniques in the formulations generally varies from 5% to 20%, sufficient to can be used to agglomerate cocoa beverage powders, amongst make the powders insoluble and difficult to reconstitute in liquid, which the following stand out: steam agglomeration (Hogekamp water or milk. The alkaline type of cocoa powder (pH between 6.2 et al., 1996; Hogekamp, 1999a,b; Hla and Hogekamp, 1999), fluid and 7.5) is generally used in cocoa beverage powders, and although bed agglomeration (Kowalska and Lenard, 2005) and thermal this shows improved dispersability as compared to natural cocoa agglomeration (Omobuwajo et al., 2000). High shear mixers have powder (pH between 5.0 and 5.9), the presence of, on average, also been used for the wet granulation of cocoa powder (Vu from 10% to 12% of cocoa butter, compromises reconstitution of et al., 2003). the cocoa beverage powders formulated with this ingredient. Steam agglomeration is a complex process and involves many Agglomeration is an alternative process that can be used to im- process variables and product characteristics. Of the process vari- prove the reconstitution properties of cocoa beverage powders in ables, the most important are the agglomerator feed conditions liquids. This process has been used as an ‘‘instantizer” for dairy (solids flow, steam flow) and the drying conditions (temperature products (hot chocolate, milk powder for ice-creams), other bever- and residence time in the dryer). With respect to product charac- ages (coffee, tea) and for starch-based products (soups, sauces and teristics, it is of fundamental importance to know the particle size baby foods). Ingredients with wide applications in the food indus- and distribution, the moisture content and the intrinsic character- try can also be agglomerated, such as enzymes and yeasts used in istics of the material (chemical composition and proportion of sol- bakery products, maltodextrin, milk proteins and acacia gum, uble components) in addition to the powder flow properties. amongst others. The objective of agglomeration is to improve the The main objective of this research was to evaluate the effects dispersion and solubility properties of the powders in addition to of the process variables in the steam agglomeration of cocoa bev- erage powder formulated with crystal and granulated sugar. The agglomerator used consisted of a moisturizing chamber and a * Corresponding author. Tel.: +55(19) 3743 1968; fax: +55(19) 3743 1963. rotary dryer. The following process variables were used: vapor E-mail address: [email protected] (F.Z. Vissotto). 0260-8774/$ - see front matter Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2009.10.013 284 F.Z. Vissotto et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 97 (2010) 283–291 Nomenclature * a color parameter – red to green Rd dryer rotation (rpm) * b color parameter – yellow to blue Ta air temperature of rotary dryer (°C) Dp mean particle diameter (lm) U moisture content (% wet basis) I insolubility (%) Vs solids feed rate (g/min) L* color parameter – black to white W wettability (s) Pv vapor pressure (kPa) pressure, solids feed rate, drying air temperature and the rotational cocoa butter). Natural, low viscosity soybean lecithin (T =25°C, velocity of the dryer. This research proposed to study cocoa bever- 2900 cP) was also used. age powders formulated from the ingredients and additives nor- mally used in commercial products using formulations similar to those available on the Brazilian market. The formulated products 2.2. Pre-treatments were analyzed both before and after steam agglomeration, with re- spect to their chemical, physical and physicochemical food powder The crystal sugar used in the formulation was ground in a ham- characteristics: moisture content, mean particle diameter, wetta- mer mill (Treu; 3.2 mm2 plate) to a mean particle diameter of bility, insolubility and color. 300 lm. On the other hand, the granulated sugar was obtained milling crystal sugar twice and then it was sieved (1.19 mm mesh). The crystals that passed through the sieve were used in the formu- 2. Materials and methods lations (mean particle diameter of granulated sugar: 100 lm). The components of the milk chocolate powder were then mixed in a 2.1. Materials ribbon blender (20 L of powder), mixing at 25 °C and 120 rpm for 20 min. Lecithinization was carried out in the same equipment un- The cocoa beverage powders used in this study had the follow- der the same conditions used to mix the ingredients. The lecithin ing composition: 80% sugar (crystal or granulated), 12% corn mal- content sprayed in was 0.3%, as indicated by Vissotto et al. todextrin (17–19.9 D.E.) and 8% cocoa powder (alkaline; 11–12% (2006) for agglomerated cocoa beverage powders. Fig. 1. Schematic design of the ICF Industrie Cibec pilot agglomerator, where (1) is the feed hopper, (2) the heated vapor and fines aspiration system, (3) the exhaust, (4) the air fan for the rotary heater, (5) the rotary heater, (6) the vapor diffuser, (7) the agglomerate classifier, (8) a 45° inclined vibrating screen, (9) steam manometer. F.Z. Vissotto et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 97 (2010) 283–291 285 Table 1 The mass retained on the paper was dried in an oven (60 °C) to Values and levels used in the fractionated factorial designs. constant weight, and subsequently weighed on an analytical bal- Variables Levels ance. The insolubility (% dry basis) was obtained from the ratio be- À10 +1tween the mass of sample retained on the paper, that had not a 2 dissolved, and the initial mass of the sample. The determinations Pv ( 10 kPa) 1.0 1.4 1.8 b were carried out in triplicate. Ta (°C) 90 95 100 c Vs (g/min) 400 550 700 d Rd (rpm) 12 32 52 2.5. Effects of the process variables Constant drying air speed = 1.45 m/s. a Vapor pressure. Two fractionated experimental designs from Resolution IV (24-1, b Rotary dryer air temperature. plus 3 central points) were used to evaluate the effects of the pro- c Solids feed rate. cess variables. The first design was applied to the products formu- d Dryer rotation. lated with crystal sugar and the second for products formulated with granulated sugar, with a total of 22 trials. The variables stud- ied were: vapor pressure (Pv), air temperature in the rotary dryer 2.3. Equipment (Ta), solids feed rate (Vs) and dryer rotation (Rd). Table 1 shows the values and levels applied in the fractionated factorial designs. A steam agglomerator was used in this study (ICF Industrie CI- The responses determined for the experimental designs were: BEC s.p.a., Italy; type: mini-instant pilot), (Fig. 1). The material was moisture content (U), mean particle diameter (Dp), insolubility fed into the agglomerator by means of a vibrating dosing chute (I), wettability (W) and the color parameters (L* a* b*). The results Ò (M.V.L. Máquinas Vibratórias Ltda, Brazil; type: FTO), the powder were analyzed using the Statistica 7.0 software, the effects of the flow being directed towards the center of the feed hopper (1), on process variables on the responses being obtained and the signifi- the inside of which there was a rotary brush that forced the pas- cance evaluated at a 90% confidence level (p 6 0.10) (Rodrigues sage of the powder against a perforated screen (6.25 mm2 mesh).