Propiedades de textura de masa y pan dulce tipo "concha" fortificados con proteínas de suero de leche

La fortificación de alimentos es importante debido a una creciente población en estado de malnutrición, por las sequías provocadas a nivel mundial y por personas de bajos recursos económicos. La adición de proteínas puede causar problemas tecnológicos. Por ello, el objetivo de este trabajo fue determinar el efecto de la adición de proteínas de lactosuero a pan dulce tipo "concha" sobre las propiedades químicas y de texturas de las masas y panes. Se planteó un experimento con diferentes concentraciones de suero comercial y precipitado por calor, se evaluó la adhesividad y el análisis del perfil de textura en masa y panes. Los resultados indicaron que el testigo presentó menor contenido de proteína (17.2 ± 0.01%) con respecto a los panes con 10% (19.8 ± 0.01) y 15% (22.9 ± 0.03) de suero comercial y precipitados por calor, el contenido de grasa fue similar en el testigo (7.01 ± 0.02) y en los panes con suero comercial (7.29 ± 0.04%) y precipitado por calor (7.37 ± 0.01), el mayor trabajo de adhesión se presentó al 10% de suero comercial, mientras que los tratamientos a base de suero tuvieron valores intermedios. La firmeza fue mayor (p < 0.05) en las muestras con proteína de suero comercial, pero menos cohesiva que las fortificadas con suero precipitado por calor. La firmeza del pan mejoró por la presencia de suero lácteo comercial que con el suero precipitado por calor, sin detectar diferencia significativa (p > 0.05) entre los porcentajes de suero. Existe un efecto del tipo y concentración de suero en la adhesividad de las masas. Respecto a la textura de los panes, el suero precipitado por calor tuvo características aceptables en comparación con el suero comercial.

Propiedades termodinámicas de sorción de agua de la pulpa de lulo en polvo con encapsulantes

Datos de humedad de equilibrio de polvo de pulpa de lulo (PL) con y sin aditivos - 58% de maltodextrina (MD) o 58% de goma Arábiga (GA) - fueran determinados en las temperaturas de 20, 30, 40 y 50 °C utilizando el método estático gravimétrico para un rango de actividades de agua entre 0.06 y 0.90. Las isotermas presentaran formato sigmoidal del tipo III, y el modelo de Guggenhein-Anderson-de Boer (GAB) fue ajustado satisfactoriamente a los datos experimentales de humedad de equilibrio en función de la actividad de agua. La adición de encapsulantes afecto las isotermas de tal manera que en la misma actividad de agua, las muestras PL + GA y PL + MD presentaron un menor contenido de humedad de equilibrio y no fueron afectadas por la variación de temperatura. Los calores isostéricos de sorción de las pulpas en polvo con encapsulantes fueron mayores (menos negativos) con relación a las pulpas de lulo en polvo, sugiriendo la existencia de sitios polares más activos en el producto sin adición de GA o MD. Una relación exponencial empírica fue utilizada para describir la dependencia del calor de sorción con el contenido de humedad del material.

Propiedades termofísicas del jugo concentrado de lulo a temperaturas por encima del punto de congelación

En este trabajo fueron determinados experimentalmente el calor específico, conductividad térmica, difusividad térmica y densidad del jugo de lulo en el rango de contenido de agua de 0.55 a 0.90 (p/p en base húmeda) y en temperaturas variando de 4 a 78.6 °C. La conductividad térmica y el calor específico fueron obtenidos utilizando el mismo aparato - una célula constituida de dos cilindros concéntricos - operando en estado estacionario y no- estacionario, respectivamente. La difusividad térmica fue obtenida a través del método de Dickerson y la densidad determinada por picnometria. Tanto la temperatura como el contenido de agua presentaron una fuerte influencia en los datos experimentales de las propiedades termofísicas del jugo de lulo. Los resultados obtenidos fueron utilizados para obtener modelos matemáticos y predecir estas propiedades en función de la concentración y la temperatura.

Determination of structural and mechanical properties, diffractometry, and thermal analysis of chitosan and hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC) films plasticized with sorbitol

In this work, the structural, mechanical, diffractometric, and thermal parameters of chitosan-hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC) films plasticized with sorbitol were studied. Solutions of HPMC (2% w/v) in water and chitosan (2% w/v) in 2% acetic acid solution were prepared. The concentration of sorbitol used was 10% (w/w) to both polymers. This solutions were mixed at different proportions (100/0; 70/30; 50/50; 30/70, and 0/100) of chitosan and HPMC, respectively, and 20 mL was cast in Petri dishes for further analysis of dried films. The miscibility of polymers was assessed by X-ray diffraction, scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The results obtained indicate that the films are not fully miscible at a dry state despite the weak hydrogen bonding between the polymer functional groups.

Mechanical and water vapor permeability properties of biodegradables films based on methylcellulose, glucomannan, pectin and gelatin

Mimic biological structures such as the cell wall of plant tissues may be an alternative to obtain biodegradable films with improved mechanical and water vapor barrier properties. This study aims to evaluate the mechanical properties and water vapor permeability (WVP) of films produced by using the solvent-casting technique from blended methylcellulose, glucomannan, pectin and gelatin. First, films from polysaccharides at pH 4 were produced. The film with the best mechanical performance (tensile strength = 72.63 MPa; elongation = 9.85%) was obtained from methylcellulose-glucomannan-pectin at ratio 1:4:1, respectively. Then, gelatin was added to this polysaccharide blend and the pH was adjusted to 4, 5 and 6. Results showed significant improvement in WVP when films were made at pH 5 and at polysaccharides/gelatin ratio of 90/10 and 10/90, reaching 0.094 and 0.118 g.mm/h.m².kPa as values, respectively. Films with the best mechanical properties were obtained from the blend of polysaccharides, whereas WVP was improved from the blend of polysaccharides and gelatin at pH 5.

Effects of the mechanical damage on the water absorption process by corn kernel

The purpose of this study was to investigate and model the water absorption process by corn kernels with different levels of mechanical damage Corn kernels of AG 1510 variety with moisture content of 14.2 (% d.b.) were used. Different mechanical damage levels were indirectly evaluated by electrical conductivity measurements. The absorption process was based on the industrial corn wet milling process, in which the product was soaked with a 0.2% sulfur dioxide (SO2) solution and 0.55% lactic acid (C3H6O3) in distilled water, under controlled temperatures of 40, 50, 60, and 70 ºC and different mechanical damage levels. The Peleg model was used for the analysis and modeling of water absorption process. The conclusion is that the structural changes caused by the mechanical damage to the corn kernels influenced the initial rates of water absorption, which were higher for the most damaged kernels, and they also changed the equilibrium moisture contents of the kernels. The Peleg model was well adjusted to the experimental data presenting satisfactory values for the analyzed statistic parameters for all temperatures regardless of the damage level of the corn kernels.

Effect of incorporation of nutraceutical capsule waste of safflower oil in the mechanical characteristics of corn starch films

Abstract Biodegradable films blends made of safflower oil nutraceutical capsules waste corn starch (20:4, 30:4, 40:4 and 50:4) were prepared. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of addition of different concentrations of safflower oil nutraceutical capsule waste in the mechanical properties (tensile strength, elongation at break, Young’s modulus) and thickness of corn starch films. A decrease in tensile strength and Young’s modulus and an increase in elongation at break were observed with the increase in the content of the nutraceutical capsule waste. The results showed that the blends of safflower oil capsules waste-corn starch films demonstrated promising characteristics to form biodegradable films with different mechanical characteristics.

X-Ray analysis to assess mechanical damage in sweet corn seeds

The X-ray test is a precise, fast and non-destructive method to detect mechanical damage in seeds. In the present study, the efficiency of X-ray analysis in identifying the extent of mechanical damage in sweet corn seeds and its relationship with germination and vigor was evaluated. Hybrid 'SWB 551' (sh2) seeds with round (R) and flat (F) shapes were classified as large (L), medium (M1, M2 and M3) and small (S), using sieves with round and oblong screens. After artificial exposure to different levels of damage (0, 1, 3, 5 and 7 impacts), seeds were X-rayed (15 kV, 5 min) and submitted to germination (25 °C/5 days) and cold (10 °C/7 days) tests. Digital images of normal and abnormal seedlings and ungerminated seeds from germination and cold tests were jointly analyzed with the seed X-ray images. Results showed that damage affecting the embryonic axis resulted in abnormal seedlings or dead seeds in the germination and cold tests. The X-ray analysis is efficient for identifying mechanical damage in sweet corn seeds, allowing damage severity to be associated with losses in germination and vigor.