Eijkelboom NM, Gawronska K, Vollenbroek JM, Kraaijveld GJC, Boom RM, Wilms PFC, Schutyser MAI. Single droplet drying with stepwise changing temperature-time trajectories: Influence on heat sensitive constituents.
Food Res Int 2024;
182:114194. [PMID:
38519165 DOI:
10.1016/j.foodres.2024.114194]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2023] [Revised: 02/13/2024] [Accepted: 03/02/2024] [Indexed: 03/24/2024]
Abstract
Optimization procedures for industrial spray drying processes mainly rely on empirical understanding. Mechanistic understanding of the process is limited, but can be enhanced by studying the drying of single droplets. We here report on a new sessile single droplet drying platform, using two air streams to represent the inlet and outlet air of a spray dryer to simulate changing conditions in a spray dryer. Accurate temperature measurements confirmed the temperature profiles and their imposition onto a drying droplet. Single droplets of solutions containing β-galactosidase and maltodextrin were dried with different temperature-time trajectories, with the inactivation of the enzyme as indicator for the thermal load on the droplet. The locking point is found to be an important parameter: the air temperature before this point does not influence the enzyme inactivation much, but a high air temperature after the locking point results in significant inactivation. The β-galactosidase inactivation was also successfully predicted with a coupled drying and inactivation model.
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