SIMULATION OF DRYING CURVES OF QUINOA (CHENOPODIUM QUINOA WILLD.) AND DETERMINATION OF WATER DIFFUSION COEFFICIENT

ANTONIO VEGA-GÁLVEZ, MARGARITA MIRANDA, ELENA LARA, KARINA DI SCALA

Bogotá, Colombia.

Congreso; Congreso Iberoamericano de Ingeniería en Alimentos. CIBIA VII; 2009

The aim of this research was to model the drying kinetics of quinoa and to determine water diffusion coefficient. Air-drying temperatures of 40, 50, 60, 70 and 80ºC were used. Sorption isotherm was determined at 60ºC giving a monolayer water content of 0.051 g water/g d.m. Drying kinetics was modeled with different mathematical equations. Water diffusion coefficient increased with the temperature from 3.78 to 7.67 x10-11 m2/s, for a range of temperatures between 40 and 80ºC, with an estimated Ea of 15.95 kJ/mol. According to the statistical tests used, the Logarithmic and Weibull models gave the best fit for experimental data (determination coefficient >0.98, sum squared error