Hysteresis and thermodynamic properties of water sorption in ‘Malagueta’ pepper seeds

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to determine hysteresis, enthalpy, entropy, enthalpy-entropy compensation theory and Gibbs free energy for water adsorption and desorption in ‘Malagueta’ pepper seeds. Hygroscopic equilibrium moisture contents were determined by the static gravimetric method, with water activity in the range from 0.29 to 0.90 and temperatures of 30, 40 and 50 °C. The hysteresis of the ‘Malagueta’ pepper seeds reduces with the increase of temperature. Enthalpy, entropy and Gibbs free energy of adsorption and desorption increase with the reduction of the moisture content of the seeds. The enthalpy-entropy compensation theory is valid for the sorption processes. The sorption of water between seeds and the surrounding air is a non-spontaneous process

Kinetics and thermodynamic properties related to the drying of 'Cabacinha' pepper fruits

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to determine and model the drying kinetics of 'Cabacinha' pepper fruits at different temperatures of the drying air, as well as obtain the thermodynamic properties involved in the drying process of the product. Drying was carried out under controlled conductions of temperature (60, 70, 80, 90 and 100 °C) using three samples of 130 g of fruit, which were weighed periodically until constant mass. The experimental data were adjusted to different mathematical models often used in the representation of fruit drying. Effective diffusion coefficients, calculated from the mathematical model of liquid diffusion, were used to obtain activation energy, enthalpy, entropy and Gibbs free energy. The Midilli model showed the best fit to the experimental data of drying of 'Cabacinha' pepper fruits. The increase in drying temperature promoted an increase in water removal rate, effective diffusion coefficient and Gibbs free energy, besides a reduction in fruit drying time and in the values of entropy and enthalpy. The activation energy for the drying of pepper fruits was 36.09 kJ mol-1