| Abstrakt: |
This paper describes the drying process conditions with the objective to minimise the negative effect over the final quality of the dry Yacon (mallanthus sonchifolius) for international commercialization. Yacon is a tuberous root that grows throughout the Andean mountains in different South American countries. During the last years the interest for this product has been increasing and researchers have collected information that indicates the great potential of yacon. The product cultivation has been promoted over the past few years, due to the health benefits found after consumption. This agricultural product contains FOS (Fructo Oligo Sacarides) of low molecular weight, which is used as alternative sweeteners and, due to the small amount of calories is also attractive and good for overweight and diabetic people. Due to the outstanding importance of its health properties, this studied was carried out to achieve the best parameters of the drying process. For this paper, an experiment was performed considering two factors of the drying process: thickness of the layer (2cm, 4cm and 6cm) and temperature (60degC, 70degC and 80degC), with measurements of the physicochemical properties in fresh, before drying and after the drying process, with three replicates for each combination of levels. |
