Predictionof specific mass behavior in the pineapple and acerola pulps under different temperatures

Abstract

The dependence of the specific mass with the temperature of the fruit pulp is very important for the food industries in general, since this is essential in the design and optimization of various operations, such as in the design of pumps, heat exchangers, coolers and mixers. Thus, the objective of this work is to determine experimentally the specific mass of the pineapple and acerola pulps at different temperatures and co-relate this property with the temperature variation of 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50° C, using mathematical models to predict this property. To obtain the values of the activation energy for the specific mass Eawas employed a proposed method by Tsenand King (2002). The specific mass values decreased with the temperature increase. The polynomial model with three terms presented the highest coefficients of determination (R2>0,99), and it can be used to estimate the specific mass studied pulps. The pineapple pulp showed greater sensitivity to different temperatures.