Influence of process conditions on the physicochemical properties of pomegranate juice in spray drying process: Modelling and optimization

In this study an attempt was made to investigate the efficiency of spray drying process of pomegranate juice using response surface methodology (RSM). Different drying conditions such as inlet air temperature (A), feed flow rate (B) and aspirator rate (C) were varied in order to study the changes in quality parameters of spray drying process including moisture content (Y1), hygroscopicity (Y2), powder yield (Y3). Three factors three level Box-Behnken response surface design (BBD) was used to evaluate the effect of process variables on spray drying process. 3D Response surface contour plots were used to study the interactive effects of the process conditions and optimal spray drying conditions were determined as follows: inlet air temperature of 130 °C, feed flow rate of 6 rpm and aspirator rate of 100%. Under these conditions, moisture content, hygroscopicity and powder yield are found to be 6.85%, 19.85 g/100 g and 14.95 g respectively.