PRODUCTION OF DRY EXTRACTS OF ENDEMIC BRAZILIAN PLANTS USING A SPOUTED BED DRYER

摘要

A method for the production of dry extracts of endemic Brazilian plants using a spoutedrnbed as dryer equipment was studied. The first step was the selection of the extractionrnprocedure. A 3x22 factorial design was used to study the effect of the ratio betweenrnplant and solvent mass, the ratio between water and ethanol mass, and the extractionrntime. The components were weighed and placed in a shaker at 30oC throughout the timernof extraction. Next, the extracts were filtered and concentrated three times in a rotaryrnevaporator. Samples of the concentrated extracts were placed in an oven in order torndetermine the solid concentration and chemically analysed for the determination of therntotal flavonoid content, used as an indicator of the quality of the extraction. After thernmethod of extract preparation was defined, the drying tests were carried out. Thernvariation of the product size distribution, product moisture content, flavonoidrndegradation (relative to the concentrated extract), product recovery, process thermalrnefficiency and heat losses were measured as a function of the inlet temperature of thernspouting gas and of the feed mass flow rate of the fluid extract. Drying aids were addedrnin order to improve the drying yield. The results showed that the spouted bed is a viablerntechnology for the production of dry extracts of endemic Brazilian plants.