Powder Technology 291 (2016) 322327

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Powder Technology
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/powtec

Moisture sorption isotherms and storage study of spray dried tamarind

pulp powder
Khalid Muzaffar , Pradyuman Kumar
Department of Food Engineering and Technology, Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology, Longowal 148106, Punjab, India

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 16 September 2015
Received in revised form 4 December 2015
Accepted 29 December 2015
Available online 30 December 2015
Keywords:
Tamarind pulp powder
Sorption isotherm
Storage
LDPE
ALP
Glass

a b s t r a c t
Moisture adsorption isotherms and storage study of spray dried tamarind pulp powder were evaluated in this
work. Adsorption isotherms of tamarind pulp powder were determined at four different temperatures (20, 30,
40 and 50 C) using a gravimetric technique. The sorption isotherms were found to be typical type II sigmoid.
The experimental data obtained was tted to several mathematical models viz. two-parameter (BET, Oswin,
Smith, Caurie, and Iglesias and Chirife), and three-parameter (GAB) relationships. A non-linear least square regression analysis was used to evaluate the model constants. The GAB followed by Oswin model best tted the
experimental data. Changes in physicochemical properties of tamarind pulp powder were evaluated during storage (at 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 months), using three different packaging materials (low density polyethylene, LDPE;
aluminum laminated polyethylene, ALP and glass). Color parameters, moisture content, titratable acidity, bulk
density and owability of the powder varied to different extent during storage, depending on the type of packaging material used. Compared to other packaging materials, powder packed in LDPE showed considerable
changes in physicochemical properties during storage. The magnitude of the change in physicochemical properties of the powder measured during storage suggests that glass is best for long term storage of tamarind pulp
powder.
2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Water sorption isotherms are considered important thermodynamic tools to determine the interaction between water and food
components. They represent the relationship of the equilibrium
moisture content of a food product with the relative humidity of its
surrounding environment at a particular temperature and provide
useful information for food processing operations such as drying,
packaging and storage [1,2]. A moisture sorption isotherm can be
used to predict the amount of water that a material will hold if it is
exposed to air at a certain relative humidity. This moisture content
is dependent on the temperature and the environmental relative humidity, as well as on the composition of the material [3]. The sorption
isotherms are commonly presented by mathematical models based
on empirical and/or theoretical criteria. In the literature, a large
number of isotherm models are available which can be categorized
into various groups; kinetic models based on an absorbed monolayer of water (BET model), kinetic models based on a multi-layer
and condensed lm (GAB model), semi-empirical (Halsey model)
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: khalidmuzaffar76@gmail.com (K. Muzaffar), pradyuman@sliet.ac.in
(P. Kumar).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.powtec.2015.12.046
0032-5910/ 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

and purely empirical models (e.g. Oswin and Smith models). The
moisture sorption isotherms are unique for every material and
must be evaluated experimentally.
Fruit juice and pulp powders are valuable materials in terms of
transportation, packaging, storage and shelf life, compared with their
liquid counter parts. Spray drying is one of the common technique
used for production of powders from liquid solutions and suspensions.
Tamarind pulp in powder form is one of the important tamarind product. However due to high amount of sugars and acids in tamarind
pulp, higher signicant product loss occurs during spray drying because
of the stickiness of the powder. Hence to overcome the stickiness problem, drying aids are added during spray drying of tamarind pulp [4,5].
Besides this, physicochemical properties of spray dried powder are affected by the conditions used during powder production and storage.
In our previous study, effect of processing conditions on physicochemical properties of spray dried tamarind pulp powder was studied [5],
however there is no investigation about the quality changes of tamarind
pulp powder during storage.
Thus, the objective of the present study was to provide experimental
data for sorption characteristics of spray dried tamarind pulp powder in
order to model the sorption isotherms using selected models and to
evaluate the changes in physicochemical properties of spay dried tamarind pulp powder during storage.

K. Muzaffar, P. Kumar / Powder Technology 291 (2016) 322327

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Sample preparation
Tamarind fruit pods were deshelled and soaked in water in the ratio
1:2.5 under optimum conditions of 33 min soaking time and 39 C
soaking temperature [6]. The mixture was then homogenized and
sieved to separate ber, rags and seeds from the pulp. The pulp was
passed through three layers of muslin cloth to obtain ne pulp.
2.2. Spray drying of tamarind pulp
A tall type laboratory scale spray dryer (S.M. Scientech, Calcutta,
India) with cocurrent regime (ow of feed spray and drying air in
same direction) and a two-uid nozzle (inside diameter of 0.5 mm) atomizer was employed for spray drying process. Feed was metered into
the dryer by means of a peristaltic pump. Based on our previous study,
the derived optimum conditions for spray drying of tamarind pulp
were 25% carrier (soya protein isolate) concentration, 170 C inlet air
temperature and 400 ml/h feed ow rate [5] Feed temperature, compressor air pressure and blower speed were kept at 25.0 0.5 C,
0.06 MPa and 2300 rpm, respectively. After the completion of the experiment, the powder was collected from the cyclone and cylindrical parts
of dryer chamber by lightly sweeping the chamber wall as proposed by
Bhandari et al. [7].
2.3. Determination of sorption isotherms
Sorption isotherms were determined by the gravimetric method.
Eight saturated salt solutions were prepared in order to provide different relative humidity values. The salt solutions used and the corresponding relative humidities at different temperatures are given in
Table 1 [8]. Triplicate samples (1 g) of freshly prepared spray dried tamarind pulp powder were placed in previously weighed alumunium
dishes. The samples were then kept in desiccators over the saturated
salt solution of known relative humidity. The desiccators were placed
in temperature-controlled cabinets maintained at 20, 30, 40 and 50 C
(1 C) and the samples were allowed to equilibrate until there was
no distinct weight change (0.0001 g). A test tube containing thymol
was placed inside the desiccators with high relative humidity to prevent
mold growth during storage. The required time period for equilibration
was about 34 weeks. The total time for removal, weighing, and putting
back the sample in the desiccator was about 30 s. This minimized the
degree of atmospheric moisture sorption during weighing. The equilibrium moisture content was determined in a vacuum oven, at 70 C until
constant weight was obtained [9]. The measurements were recorded as
the mean of triplicates samples.
2.4. Storage study
Freshly prepared tamarind pulp powder samples (15 g) were
packed in three different packaging materials (low density polyethylene, LDPE; aluminum laminated polyethylene, ALP and glass) and

Lithium chloride
Potassium acetate
Magnesium chloride
Potassium carbonate
Magnesium nitrate
Potassium iodide
Sodium chloride
Potassium chloride

placed in desiccators lled with saturated solution of Magnesium nitrate in order to provide a constant relative humidity of 53% during
the storage period. The desiccators were then stored at 25 1 C,
representing room temperature. The powder samples were periodically
analyzed (at 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 months) for different physicochemical
properties (color, moisture content, acidity, bulk density and
owability).
2.4.1. Color measurement
The color of the powder samples was determined by using a color
spectrophotometer (CM-3600d, Konica Minolta). The results were
expressed in terms of Hunter color values of L*, a*, and b*, where L* denotes lightness/darkness, a* redness/greenness, and b* yellowness/
blueness.
2.4.2. Moisture content
The moisture content (%) of the powder samples was determined
according to AOAC method [9]. About 2 g of the powder sample was
taken in a petriplates and dried in a vacuum oven at a temperature of
70 C until a constant weight was obtained. The samples were analyzed
in triplicates and the mean was recorded.
2.4.3. Titratable acidity
The titratable acidity (%) of the powder sample was determined by
titration with standardized 0.1 N NaOH to the phenolphthalein end
point, according to the method described by Rangana [10]. Titratable
acidity was measured in terms of tartaric acid. The samples were analyzed in triplicates and the mean value was calculated.
2.4.4. Bulk density
For the determination of loose bulk density a known quantity of
powder sample was freely poured into a 10 ml graduated cylinder
(readable at 0.1 ml) and the volume occupied was noted and then
used to calculate bulk density (weight/volume).
2.4.5. Powder owability
Powder owability was measured in terms of cohesive index by
using a Powder ow analyzer attached to a texture analyzer (Stable
Micro Systems, UK). A xed powder volume of 25 ml was poured into
the cylindrical vessel of the analyzer prior to testing. During the test,
the blade of the analyzer took a downward and then upward movement
for three cycles inside the cylinder, corresponding to three compaction
and decompaction phases. The forcedisplacement curve was thus generated by the system, exhibiting the force exerted on the cylinder bottom due to blade movement and powder displacement. A cohesion
coefcient (g.mm) was derived by Texture Exponent software (Stable
Micro System, UK) through integrating the negative area underneath
the curve during the decompaction cycle. The cohesion index (mm)
was dened as the ratio of the negative area under force displacement
curve to the sample weight.
2.5. Sensory evaluation
A panel comprising of seven trained judges did sensory evaluation of
tamarind pulp powder after a regular interval of one month storage period by using 9-points hedonic scale scorecard.

Table 1
Relative humidities of selected saturated salt solutions at different temperatures.
Salt

323

Relative humidity (%)

20 C

30 C

40 C

50 C

11.3
23.1
33.1
43.2
54.4
69.9
75.5
85.1

11.3
21.6
32.4
43.2
51.4
67.9
75.1
83.6

11.2
20.8
31.6
40.0
48.4
66.1
74.7
82.3

11.1
20.4
30.5
38.5
45.4
64.5
74.4
81.2

2.6. Analysis of sorption data

The equilibrium moisture content of the powders for each temperature was plotted against the corresponding water activity (relative
humidity/100) to produce the sorption isotherms. Six different mathematical models presented in Table 2 were used to t to the experimental
data using regression analysis. The curve tting and regression analysis
were performed using Statistica. V.8. (Statsoft, India Pvt. Ltd. New
Delhi). The goodness of the t of each model was evaluated in terms

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K. Muzaffar, P. Kumar / Powder Technology 291 (2016) 322327

2.7. Statistical analysis

Table 2
Moisture sorption isotherm models used for experimental data tting.
Name of the model

Mathematical expression

GAB [26]

0 :C:K:aw
M 1K:awM
1K:aw C:K:aw
M0 :C:aw
M 1aw C1:
1aw : aw 
M = A . (aw/1 aw)B

BET [27]
Oswin [28]
Caurie [30]
Smith [29]
Iglesias and Chirife [31]

M = exp (A + B .aw)
M = A + Blog(1 aw)
M = A + B . (aw/1 aw)

The experimental data for physico-chemical properties of the powder was expressed as the mean value standard deviation. The experimental data was further analyzed using two way ANOVA. The factors
(and levels) were packaging material (LDPE, ALP and glass) and storage
time (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 months). The ANOVA included the main effects
of packaging material, storage time and their interaction.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Sorption isotherm

of minimum standard error of estimate (SE), minimum percent root

mean square error (%RMSE), minimum mean absolute percentage
error (P), and the maximum adjusted R-square, (R2Adjusted) and were
calculated as follows:
v
u N
uX
SE t Y i Y i 02 = F

i1

v
u N
u1 X
Y Y i 0=Y i 2  100
%RMSE t
N i1 i
P

N
100 X
Y Y i 0=Y i
N i1 i

XN
W i Y i Y i 02 N1
R2Adjusted 1 XNi1
W i Y i Y2 NM
i1

Where
Y
Y
Y
N
F
W
M

experimental value of equilibrium moisture content;

predicted value of equilibrium moisture content;
mean of experimental data of equilibrium moisture content
number of observations;
degree of freedom of the regression model;
weighting applied to each data point, which was set to unity
in these analyses; and
number of coefcients in each equation.

Moisture sorption behavior of spray dried tamarind pulp powder at

four different temperatures (20, 30, 40, and 50 C) is described by Fig. 1.
The sorption isotherms revealed an increase in equilibrium moisture
content with increase in water activity at a constant temperature, a
characteristic feature of amorphous materials rich in hydrophilic components. This behavior can be attributed to the hydrophilic nature of
carbohydrates and protein present in spray dried tamarind pulp powder. At low and intermediate water activities, the so-called multilayer
sorption region, equilibrium moisture content increases linearly with
water activity, whereas at high water activities, the so-called capillary
condensation region, a sharp increase in equilibrium moisture content
was observed [11,12]. This trend has been reported in the literature
for many food materials including raisins, gs, apricots, prunes [13],
grapes, apples [14], tomato pulp powder [11] and orange juice powder
[15]. Experimental data indicated that the equilibrium moisture content
decreased with increasing temperature, at a constant water activity.
This behavior may be due to the decrease in the total number of active
sites for water binding as a result of physical and/or chemical changes
induced by temperature. At increased temperatures water molecules
get activated to higher energy levels and break away from the waterbinding sites of the food, thus decreasing the equilibrium moisture content [16].
The results of regression analysis for tting the experimental data to
six different models along with standard error of estimate (SE) on EMC,
percent root mean square error (%RMSE), mean absolute percentage
error (P), and adjusted R-square (R2Adjusted) are presented in Table 3. In
terms of the mean absolute percentage error (P) of the ts, those with
less than 10% error can be considered acceptable [17] and an R2Adjusted
of N 0.98 may also indicate a good t. Regarding the BET model only

Fig. 1. Adsorption isotherms of spray dried tamarind pulp powder at various temperatures.

K. Muzaffar, P. Kumar / Powder Technology 291 (2016) 322327

325

Table 3
Estimated parameters of isotherm models for spray dried tamarind pulp powder at different temperatures.
Goodness of t parameters

Model coefcients/constants

Model

Temperature (C)

SE

%RMSE

P (%)

Adjusted-R-Square

GAB

20
30
40
50
20
30
40
50
20
30
40
50
20
30
40
50
20
30
40
50
20
30
40
50

0.624
0.682
0.639
0.435
0.245
0.234
0.269
0.136
0.714
0.741
0.777
0.699
1.171
0.931
0.952
1.685
1.375
1.128
1.207
1.191
1.704
1.485
1.072
0.656

3.577
4.476
4.527
1.642
3.824
3.695
5.251
2.111
6.093
6.761
9.350
11.307
9.733
8.207
9.541
13.016
12.163
11.310
12.700
15.075
22.736
19.450
13.345
5.456

3.338
4.221
3.939
3.451
3.620
3.477
4.514
1.854
5.406
6.110
7.742
8.298
7.508
6.002
6.851
10.265
10.273
9.807
10.959
11.951
12.995
11.766
8.380
9.525

0.9956
0.9931
0.9932
0.9962
0.9999
0.9983
0.9982
0.9995
0.9952
0.9932
0.9913
0.9928
0.987
0.9892
0.9870
0.9889
0.9826
0.9842
0.9791
0.9792
0.9726
0.9726
0.9835
0.9889

7.7031, Mo
7.2252, Mo
6.3523, Mo
5.6038, Mo
6.7714, Mo
6.1819, Mo
5.6897, Mo
5.1050, Mo
12.4952
11.6746
11.0874
10.2142
0.9779
0.946
0.914
0.7786
0.8582
1.028
0.9959
0.6030
5.5210
4.9196
4.3505
3.5888

6.5691, C
6.4869, C
8.1833, C
8.3491, C
9.0380, C
9.9163, C
12.3717, C
12.2353, C
0.6147
0.6120
0.6277
0.6622
3.0348
2.9429
2.9519
3.0669
17.75
16.1837
15.4952
14.9805
5.7694
5.5737
5.6264
5.6588

0.9375, K
0.9357, K
0.9619, K
0.9875, K

BET

Oswin

Caurie

Smith

Iglesias and Chirife

Standard error of estimate.

%RMSE = percent root mean squared error, p; mean absolute percentage error.

experimental data with aw b 0.50 was tted to the BET equation, because
above that value the model hypothesis fails and the equation is not able
to predict sorption behavior accurately.
Table 3 shows that GAB model gives the minimum values for SSE,
RMSE and P and the maximum R2Adjusted when used to predict the moisture sorption isotherm of tamarind pulp powder at different temperatures. So the GAB best describes the experimental adsorption data
through the entire range of water activity. This observation is similar
to that obtained by Goula et al. [11] and Sormoli and Langrish [15]
who studied sorption isotherms of tomato pulp powder and orange
juice powder respectively. After GAB model, smith model also adequately tted the experimental data of sorption showing minimum
values of SE, RMSE and P. This suggests that GAB and Oswin sorption
equations could best describe the adsorption behavior of tamarind
pulp powder. The shape of moisture sorption isotherms (Fig. 1) and
the value for model parameter, C N 1 of the BET equation (Table 3)
imply that the moisture sorption isotherms for tamarind pulp powder
are sigmoid and based on the classication of isotherms given by
Brunauer et al. [18] belong to type II class of isotherms.
3.2. Parameters of GAB equation
The GAB equation and the denition of its three parameters are
given in Eqs. (5)(8)
M

M0 :C:K:aw
1K:aw 1K:aw C:K:aw

C C 0 expH c =RT

K K 0 expHk =RT

M0 M0 expH x =RT :

Where M0, known as monolayer moisture content is the amount of

water that is adsorbed in a monolayer on the surface of the adsorbent
and is a measure of the availability of active sorption sites. The parameter C determines the strength of binding for water molecules to the

primary binding sites on the product surface. The larger the value of C,
the stronger the bonds between water molecules in the monolayer
and the binding sites on the surface of the sorbent. The parameter K
is a correction factor for multilayer molecules relative to the bulk liquid;
when K = 1 the molecules beyond the monolayer have the same characteristics as pure water. Hc = the difference between the heat of
sorption for monolayer of water and the heat of sorption for multilayer
water, and Hk = the difference between the latent heat of condensation of pure water and the heat of sorption for multilayer water. Hx
is a constant parameter to express the temperature dependence of the
monolayer moisture [19].
GAB model is based on the monolayer moisture concept and provides the value of monolayer moisture content of the material, considered as the safe moisture for dried foods during preservation, while
most other models lack this parameter. The monolayer moisture content (Mo) indicates the amount of water that is strongly adsorbed to
specic sites at the food surface and is considered as the moisture content affording the longest time period with minimum quality loss at a
given temperature [11].
The t of GAB equation to the water vapor sorption data of dried
tamarind pulp powder was performed by non-linear regression analysis
of the standard three parameter GAB equation (Eq. (5)) and the three
parameters of the GAB equation (Mo, C and K) were determined at
each temperature (Table 3). Then the constants Co, Ko, M, Hc, Hk
and Hx were calculated by using a successive regression of
Eqs. (6) to (8) (Table 4). The values of the monolayer moisture contents
(Mo) decreased slightly as the temperature increased, whereas the parameter K and C rst slightly decreased at 30 C and then increased. A
Table 4
GAB constants calculated by linear regression of GAB parameters and
reciprocals of absolute temperature.
C0
Hc (J/mol)
K0
Hk (J/mol)
M (% dry basis)
Hx (J/mol)

8.44
3241.63
1.25
620.31
0.54 or 5.4 101
3697.57

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K. Muzaffar, P. Kumar / Powder Technology 291 (2016) 322327

similar trend for GAB parameters was also observed by Sormoli and
Langrish [15] for orange juice powder. According to Lewicki [20] in
order to represent a sigmoid type of sorption isotherm, the parameters
of the GAB equations should be in the following ranges: C N 5.67 and
0 b K b 1 and the same is depicted by GAB parameters for tamarind
pulp powder. A positive value for Hc was expected as a result of the
exothermic interaction of the water molecules with the sorption sites
on the surfaces of the powders. A negative value is usually expected
for Hk due to the weaker bonding of the multilayer molecules [21]
which has been the case here. However, a positive value of the H2
has been also reported for fruits at high water activities and has been related to the endothermic dissolution of fruit sugars in the absorbed
water [19].
3.3. Storage study
Changes in physicochemical properties of the food materials occur
during storage. The packaging material is one of the important factor
that inuences the physical, chemical and sensory properties of dried
food powders. The effect of packaging material on physicochemical
properties of tamarind pulp powder during storage is discussed below.
3.3.1. Color
Color is a very important quality characteristic of fruit and vegetable
products which inuences the consumer acceptability. Color changes of
tamarind pulp powder samples during storage using different packaging material are presented in Table 5. During storage there was a decrease in L and b value and an increase in a value for color. The
ANOVA results showed that both packaging material and storage period
signicantly (P b 0.05) affected the color values of tamarind pulp powder (Table 6). With respect to the package used it was observed that
change in color values was minimum for the powder samples stored
in glass while there was a considerable change in color values for the
powder packed in LDPE. The minimum color change for the powder in
glass bottle may be due to impermeability of glass to air and moisture
which favor the reactions responsible for color change. The change in
color values can be attributed to Maillard reaction.
3.3.2. Moisture content, acidity and bulk density
Moisture content, acidity and bulk density values of tamarind pulp
powder packed in different packaging materials are summarized in

Table 5. The data shows that except for the powder samples lled in
glass there was a gradual increase in moisture content of the samples
during storage. As per ANOVA results, the effect of packaging material
and storage time on moisture content was signicant (Table 6). The possible reason for increase in moisture content of the powder during storage is due to the ingress of moisture through the packages which have
different degree of permeability to water vapor.
Titratable acidity of the powder samples showed an increase during
storage, suggesting the interaction between various constituents and
resulting chemical changes (Table 5). ANOVA results indicated that
the type of packaging material and storage time signicantly affected
the titratable acidity of tamarind pulp powder (Table 6). The increase
in titratable acidity may be due to the reaction of basic amines to form
compounds of lower basicity and to the degradation of sugars into
acids during the Maillard reaction [22]. These results are in agreement
with the ndings of Chauhan and Patil [23] and Liu et al. [24], found during storage of mango milk powder and tomato pulp powder
respectively.
Bulk density of tamarind pulp powder samples increased with storage period depending on the extent of moisture gain of the powder
samples packed in different packaging materials (Table 5). Type of Packaging material and storage time had a signicant effect (P b 0.05) on
bulk density values (Table 6). Increase in bulk density with increasing
moisture content during storage was also observed by Chauhan and
Patil [23] in mango milk powder. An increase in bulk density may also
be attributed to increased cohesiveness between powder particles
caused by absorption of moisture during storage.
3.3.3. Flowability
Flowability of tamarind pulp powder samples was measured in
terms of cohesion index. Higher the cohesion index, higher is the cohesiveness of the powder, thus poorer owability. On the basis of cohesive
index, the powders are categorized as follows: 19+, extremely cohesive; 1619, very cohesive; 1416, cohesive; 1114, easy owing and
11, free owing (Stable Micro Systems Ltd., UK). Table 5 shows the
changes in cohesive index of the powder samples packed in various
packaging materials during storage. The effect storage of period and
packaging material on the cohesion index of the powder samples is related to their effect on moisture content of the powder. Increase in
moisture content increases the cohesiveness of the powder and thus
leads to reduction in owability [25]. Both packaging material and

Table 5
Changes in physicochemical properties of spray dried tamarind pulp powder at ambient conditions (25 C temperature and 45% relative humidity) during storage using three different
packaging materials.
Packaging material

LDPE

ALP

Glass

Storage period (months)

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
0
1
2
3
4
5
6

Color
L

66.56 0.61
65.32 0.49
62.19 0.82
59.12 0.40
56.62 0.33
53.67 0.57
46.34 1.58
66.56 0.61
66.01 0.31
65.93 1.05
65.86 0.32
62.59 0.41
61.39 0.44
58.78 2.41
66.56 0.61
66.43 0.27
66.39 0.44
66.12 0.18
66.02 0.46
65.81 0.67
65.27 0.66

10.87 0.47
10.94 0.98
11.36 0.49
11.42 0.97
12.57 1.37
12.99 0.46
13.52 0.61
10.87 0.47
10.99 0.91
10.96 0.75
11.13 0.86
11.42 0.61
11.72 0.66
12.06 0.65
10.87 0.47
10.87 0.88
10.93 0.68
10.95 0.39
10.95 0.42
10.97 0.85
11.03 0.12

27.21 0.52
27.09 0.61
26.93 0.45
26.66 0.40
25.97 0.79
25.83 0.74
24.75 0.77
27.21 0.52
27.16 0.73
27.15 0.51
27.14 0.67
27.09 0.67
27.05 0.93
26.94 1.01
27.21 0.52
27.20 0.37
27.20 0.70
27.18 0.63
27.17 0.54
27.15 0.35
27.18 0.22

Moisture (%)

Acidity (%)

Bulk density (g/ml)

Cohesion index (mm)

2.62 0.02
3.16 0.06
4.19 0.24
5.11 0.15
6.93 0.06
7.39 0.50
7.87 0.67
2.62 0.02
2.70 0.02
2.83 0.03
3.06 0.14
3.59 0.26
4.36 0.51
4.95 0.08
2.62 0.02
2.62 0.03
2.62 0.05
2.65 0.02
2.64 0.03
2.65 0.03
2.62 0.07

9.33 0.06
9.41 0.04
9.55 0.03
9.71 0.07
9.92 0.08
10.15 0.06
10.26 0.10
9.33 0.06
9.35 0.06
9.40 0.02
9.43 0.04
9.65 0.11
9.72 0.09
9.97 0.23
9.33 0.06
9.33 0.13
9.36 0.08
9.38 0.08
9.40 0.05
9.66 0.05
9.89 0.10

0.43 0.01
0.46 0.01
0.49 0.03
0.52 0.03
0.58 0.03
0.64 0.02
0.66 0.03
0.43 0.01
0.44 0.01
0.46 0.02
0.48 0.01
0.49 0.02
0.51 0.02
0.52 0.03
0.43 0.01
0.43 0.02
0.43 0.02
0.43 0.02
0.44 0.03
0.44 0.04
0.46 0.02

10.19 0.32
10.64 0.06
11.56 0.13
14.52 0.12
15.36 0.13
16.77 0.29
17.88 0.63
10.19 0.32
10.34 0.04
10.87 0.09
11.40 0.13
11.97 0.39
12.49 0.48
13.18 0.35
10.19 0.32
10.19 0.24
10.20 0.10
10.22 0.08
10.22 0.14
10.24 0.03
10.31 0.18

K. Muzaffar, P. Kumar / Powder Technology 291 (2016) 322327

327

Table 6
ANOVA for physicochemical properties of spray dried tamarind pulp powder during storage.
Source of variation

Packaging material (PM)

Storage period (SP)
PM SP
Error

df

2
6
12
42

MSS
L

Moisture content

Acidity

Bulk density

Cohesive index

315.49
108.44
34.56
0.66

5.54
2.41
0.79
0.52

4.46
0.97
0.70
0.40

40.04
8.81
3.46
0.06

0.455
0.630
0.034
0.007

0.056
0.019
0.005
0.0005

70.86
17.72
7.12
0.07

Mean signicant at P b 0.05.

Mean non-signicant at P b 0.05.

storage time signicantly affected the cohesion index value (Table 6).
Tamarind pulp powder packed in LDPE showed higher decrease in powder owability due to considerable increase in moisture content and the
powder became cohesive after a period of two months, with cohesive
index greater than 14. Flowability of the powder packed in ALP also decreased but showed easily owing behavior after six months of storage
period. However powder packed in glass showed almost no decrease in
powder owability and remained in a free owing state throughout the
storage period, with cohesive index less than 11.
3.4. Sensory quality
Packaging material and storage time had marked inuence on the
sensory quality of tamarind pulp powder. Tamarind pulp powder
packed in LDPE was acceptable up to 2 months of storage period. Powder samples packed in ALP and glass showed acceptable sensory quality
throughout 6 months of storage period. However glass offered the
highest protection against loss in sensory scores of tamarind pulp
powder.
4. Conclusion
The moisture sorption isotherms of spray dried tamarind pulp powder followed a sigmoid isotherm curve, typical of the type II BET classication shape. Temperature affected the sorption behavior, with
equilibrium moisture content decreased with increasing temperature
at constant water activity. Within the temperature range investigated,
the kinetic three-parameter GAB model and the empirical two parameter Oswin model were found best to represent the experimental data
throughout the entire range of water activity. Therefore the GAB
model and Oswin model were chosen as the preferred models for
predicting the moisture sorption isotherms of tamarind pulp powder.
In general, it can be concluded that among the three packages used,
the glass is recommended for long term storage of tamarind pulp
powder.
Acknowledgments
The rst author is thankful to University Grant Commission, New
Delhi for nancial support.
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