Estudo da secagem da fibra residual do abacaxi

The objective of this work was to characterize fibrous residue generated in the industrialization of pineapple (Ananas comosus L.) juice and to study its improvement, by drying, aiming to get a dietary fiber product. The characterized residue presented high content of fibers (32.95% dry base). The dryer was carried through in fix-bed dryer, in thin layer, using complete factorial design in three levels, with triplicate in the central point. The independent variables were temperature (50 oC, 60 oC and 70oC) and velocity of air circulation (2.0 m/s; 2.5 m/s and 3.0 m/s). The evaluated dependent variables were: final moisture of dry product, time, drying rate on constant speed and color of the product. The results obtained from the variance analysis showed, that the temperature was the independent variable, which presented greater influence in the dependents variables, and there wasn't significantly influence just on the color of the product