Anais do Congresso Brasileiro de Ciência e Tecnologia de Alimentos

Introduction: Arrachacha is a root with a wide distribution in Peru and Andean region from Southamerica. Interesting chemical and technological properties have been reported in this root. Objective: The present work explored the drying and rehydration kinetics of commercial arracacha slices at three temperatures (60, 80, 100 ºC). Methodology: The samples were dried using a halogen lamp (AX-MX-34-240V) of an infrared moisture analyzer (Y MX-50 & company D, Tokyo, Japan). The weight of the slices was recorded every 20 seconds using a WinCT-Moisture V2.41 Windows communication (A&D company, Japan). For the rehydration process, each dried slice was immersed in 50 ml of distilled water at 25 °C using a water bath. The dried samples were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectrum (FTIR). Results: Peleg parameters (k & n) for drying indicated that drying accelerates with temperature. However, rehydration was significantly higher when the samples were dried at 100 ºC, at this temperature a color change towards yellow was also observed. The FTIR analysis indicated that changes in the hydroxyl groups occur, especially when dried at 100 ºC. Conclusion: It was shown that the drying temperature can affect the chemical and possibly technological characteristics. The last is relevant when processing this root.