Farinhas de sementes de melão neve (Cucumis melo sp.) produzidas por secagem intermitente e contínua: propriedades físico-químicas e estabilidade durante o armazenamento.

Abstract

Industries and the population in general have as a food habit, from the processing of the fruits, the discard of the husks and the seeds generating waste, when they can be used as by-products. Nowadays, turning these byproducts, which generally contain nutritional properties, into flour is a viable process, since besides being an option for food preparation, it allows a more noble destination to a product that is usually discarded along with other organic waste. Few reports have been made about the melon snow, according to the assumption the purpose of this project was to obtain the flour of the snow melon seeds dried intermittently and continuously. Because there are no reports in the seed literature the study was carried out initially from the physical properties and the physical and physicochemical characterization of the seeds; the drying was done in a fixed bed dryer at a temperature of 60 ºC under the influence of the air velocity at 1 m / s; obtained, the flours were evaluated for physical, chemical and physicochemical parameters; of the best flours was carried out hygroscopicity through adsorption isotherm, isosteric heat and storage at room temperature for 90 days. It has been found that snow melon seeds have physical differences compared to other melon varieties. The Page model was the best fit for the prediction of experimental kinetics of seed drying and was able to predict the kinetics of intermittent drying including quenching time. Flours had a moisture content of less than 6%, intermittent drying preserved proteins and lipids more than continuous. The PELEG model was the one that best fit the prediction of the experimental data of the moisture adsorption isotherms. During storage there was increased moisture and water activity (aw), degradation of proteins and lipids and color of flours. The continuously produced flour tended to have higher water absorption and increased aw. The type of packaging did not influence the results.