Journal of Food Processing and Preservation ISSN 1745-4549

FOAM MAT DRYING OF FOOD MATERIALS: A REVIEW

SANGAMITHRA A, SIVAKUMAR VENKATACHALAM1, SWAMY GABRIELA JOHN and
KANNAN KUPPUSWAMY
Department of Food Technology, Kongu Engineering College, Perundurai, Erode 638052, Tamil Nadu, India

1
Corresponding author. ABSTRACT
TEL: 04294-226606;
FAX: 04294-220087; Foam mat drying is an economical alternative to drum, spray and freeze-drying
EMAIL: drvsivakumar@yahoo.com for the production of food powders. The liquid is whipped to form stable foam,
and dehydrated by thermal means. The larger surface area of the foam accelerated
Received for Publication September 18, 2014
the drying process for the rapid moisture removal from the high moisture feed. A
Accepted for Publication November 08, 2014
high-quality food powder can be obtained by the proper selection of foaming
doi:10.1111/jfpp.12421 method, foaming agents, foam stabilizers, time taken for foaming, suitable drying
method and temperature. In this article, the basics of foam and its structure,
methods of foaming, types of foaming method and stabilizing agents for the pro-
duction of stable foam have been analyzed. The influence of foaming agents and
foaming properties on the drying characteristics of fruit juices are also studied.
This article reviewed the application of foam drying process for different food
materials, the microstructure and the quality of powders obtained by using differ-
ent foaming agents.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION
The renewed foam mat drying is considerably cheaper than freeze and spray
drying for the production of fruit powders. This process can be used for large-
scale production of fruit powders because of its suitability for all types of juices,
rapid drying at lower temperature, retention of nutritional quality, easy reconsti-
tution and cost-effective for producing easily reconstitutable juice powders. Fruit
juice powders obtained through this process have high economic potentials over
their liquid counterparts such as reduced volume or weight, reduced storage space,
simpler handling and transportation, and much longer shelf life. The fruit
powders obtained through this method can find applications in snacks, beverages,
ice creams, bakery products, as a starter for the preparation of instant foods,
pastes, etc.

both heat transfer (application of heat) and mass transfer

INTRODUCTION
Drying is an important process to preserve raw food materi-
als. The drying process occurs when water vapor is removed
from its surface into the surrounding space, resulting in a
dried material with an extended shelf life and reduced water
activity of food products. During drying, the moisture
content can be reduced to a level ranging from 1 to 5%,
which avoids microbial spoilage and undesirable enzymatic
reactions. In addition to substantial reduction in weight and
volume, it minimizes packaging, storage and transportation
costs (Fumagalli and Silveira 2005; Falade and Solademi
2010). Drying can be carried out by the application of heat
either by conduction, convection or radiation. It involves
(removal of water). As drying proceeds, it creates a new
microstructure and the spatial distribution of the micro-
structure characteristics is important in texture perception
of the product. The classification of fluid materials may be
dried by being physically supported on a tray, drum or
moving belt; by being wiped on a heated surface; or dis-
persed in an air stream as in spray drying (Hertzendorf et al.
1970). The first two methods readily lend themselves to
conductive heat transfer methods, while the last mentioned
is generally restricted to air convection. The problem associ-
ated in belt/tray drying method is color change, protein
denaturization and poor rehydration quality. Freeze-drying
of liquids product yields excellent product quality with

Journal of Food Processing and Preservation •• (2014) ••–•• © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 1
FOAM MAT DRYING OF FOOD MATERIALS S. A ET AL.

good rehydration and color; however, the higher operation

and set up costs restricted the use of freeze-drying for only
high-quality products. Among the other methods of drying,
foam mat drying is relatively simple and alternative method
which facilitates the removal of water from fruit juice and
vegetable puree. This method allows the dehydration of
heat-sensitive, high sugar content and viscous foods, which
are difficult-to-dry and sticky under relatively mild condi-
tions without change in quality (Morgan et al. 1961). This
method is suitable for drying of sticky, viscous and heat-
sensitive products, which cannot be dried by spray drying.
The liquid food material that needs to be dried gently could
be dried by the foam mat method provided it is capable of
forming stable foam (Akintoye and Oguntunde 1991).
Foam mat drying is finding an increasing demand and
application in drying liquids that render a high-quality con-
centrate such as milk, fruit juices, coffee and tea, in a com-
mercial scale (Bag et al. 2011). This paper focuses on the
comprehensive review of foaming and drying of liquid
products for the production of food powders by foam mat
drying.

PRINCIPLES OF FOAM MAT DRYING

The foam mat drying is a process in which the trans-
formation of products from liquid to stable foam followed
by air drying. Stable gas-liquid foam is the primary
condition for successful foam drying. Proteins, gums and
various emulsifiers (e.g., glycerol monostearate, propylene
glycerol monostearate, carboxymethyl cellulose [CMC],
trichlorophosphate) are used as foaming agents. Mixtures
are whipped to form stable foams using blender or specially
designed device. The foam is then spread as a thin sheet or
mat and exposed to stream of hot air until it is dried to
desired moisture content. Drying is carried out at relatively FIG. 1. PROCESS FLOWCHART OF FOAM MAT DRYING

low temperatures to form a thin porous honeycomb sheet

or mat, which is disintegrated to yield a free-flowing
powder. The larger surface area exposed to the drying air is
the main cause of moisture removal acceleration (Brygidyr
et al. 1977). However, capillary diffusion is also the main
reason for the moisture movement within the product
during foam mat drying (Sankat and Castaigne 2004).The
dried product obtained from foam mat drying is of better
quality, porous and can be easily reconstituted. The advan-
tages of the foam mat drying process include suitability for
all types of juices, rapid drying at lower temperature, reten-
tion of nutritional quality, easy reconstitution and cost-
effective for producing easily reconstitutable juice powders
(Kudra and Ratti 2006). The foam mat drying process is
reported to be considerably cheaper than vacuum, freeze
and spray drying methods (Kadam et al. 2010a). Figure 1
represents the general steps involved in foam mat drying
process.
Foam and Its Structure
Foam is a colloidal dispersion in which gas is dispersed in a
continuous liquid phase. The dispersed phase is referred as
the internal phase and continuous phase is referred as the
external phase. The dispersed phase is larger than the con-
tinuous phase (German and Phillips 1994; Baniel et al.
1997). Based on the ratio of dispersed phase to continuous
phase, foams can be classified into polyhedric foam and
dilute bubbly foam. In polyhedric foams, the ratio is large,
which results in large number of bubbles. As the number of
bubble increases, they press each other to form honeycomb
structure. Egg white foam and beer foam are good examples
of polyhedric foams. In dilute foams, the ratio is small;
hence, individual bubbles retain their spherical shape.
Choco mousse is a good example of dilute bubbly foams
(Prins 1988). The gaseous phase (usually air) is

2 Journal of Food Processing and Preservation •• (2014) ••–•• © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
S. A ET AL.
FIG. 2. SCHEMATIC REPRESENTATION OF STRUCTURE OF FOAM
incorporated in the form of uniformly distributed tiny
bubbles and modifies the product texture and appearance.
The distributions of bubbles impart smoothness, a special
mouthfeel and a uniform distribution of flavor, enhancing
the product homogeneity. Therefore, foam is a macroscopic
dispersion of gas, whose existence and properties are con-
trolled by colloidal forces, surface forces and interactions
between the individual films separating gas bubbles
(Indrawati and Narsimhan 2008; Narchi et al. 2009).
Foams have thin, flat, liquid films or lamellae between
bubbles. The lamellae meet each other at a point called a
plateau border (Fig. 2). The mechanical strength of lamella
determines the stability of the foam along with their air/
water interface properties. If viscous liquids are used for
foam making, they usually produce more stable foams; this
is due to the increased elasticity of the lamella. Owing to the
curvature of the interface, the pressure in the plateau border
is lower than that in the bubble (Dickinson 1992).
Methods of Foam Formation
Proper understanding of nature of the foam and its physical
properties are important to have good control over them
(Foegeding et al. 2006). The formation of foams is generally
by the following three methods:
• Sparging or bubbling;
• Whipping or beating;
• Shaking.
In the first method, a known amount of air is bubbled
through an orifice into a known quantity of liquid. The
liquid may be completely converted to foam if a large
amount of gas is introduced. The size of the bubble formed
highly depends on the viscosity of the liquid. This method
manages the desired bubble size by adjusting the diameter
of the orifice. This method is not used in food processing
industries; however, it is commonly used for basic foam
studies (German and Phillips 1994). The incorporation of
unlimited amount of air into known quantity of liquid to
produce foam is called whipping or beating. When a large
Journal of Food Processing and Preservation •• (2014) ••–•• © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
FOAM MAT DRYING OF FOOD MATERIALS
amount of air is trapped inside the liquid caused by the
action of an agitator, the size of the air bubble will increase
and subsequently break into small bubbles because of the
mechanical agitation. The final size of the bubble depends
on the speed of the agitator, the geometry of the apparatus
and the rheological properties of the liquid. The volume of
air included usually goes through a maximum with increas-
ing intensity of beating. Whipping results in severe
mechanical stress and more uniform dispersion of the gas/
air when compared with sparging. The severe mechanical
stress affects both the coalescence and formation of bubbles.
This method of foam formation was widely used in the food
processing industries. Commercially available electric hand
blender was used for about 3–5 min to obtain consistent
foam (Valenzuela and Aguilera 2013). In the third method,
foam is obtained by agitating the liquid vigorously. The
volume of the foam formed by shaking depends on the
factors like the amplitude and frequency of shaking, shape
of the container, the volume, protein content and tempera-
ture of the liquid taken. This method tends to be slower
than by bubbling or whipping under same conditions;
hence, it is not commonly practiced on large-scale foam
production (Hailing and Walstra 1981).
Foaming Agents
A foaming agent is a surfactant material that reduces the
surface tension between two liquids or between a liquid and
a solid and facilitates the foam formation. A good foaming
agent should be able to adsorb readily at the air-water inter-
face, reduce interfacial tension, able to interact mutually
among the proteins that unfold at the interface and form a
strong cohesive, viscoelastic film that can withstand thermal
and mechanical agitation Proteins give a good foamability
and high foam stability through their hydrophobicity and
possible conformational rearrangements, which allow rapid
adsorption at the air-water interface leading to the forma-
tion of a coherent elastic adsorbed layer (Dickinson 1998).
The most widely used protein foaming agents are egg white,
gelatin, milk proteins like casein, whey protein and soy
protein. Table 1 presents the different foaming agents and
its concentration used by various researchers. Protein
foaming agents should posses the following properties
(Zayas 1997):
• Stabilize foams effectively and rapidly at low
concentrations;
• Perform effectively over the pH range, which exists in
various foods;
• Perform efficiently in the medium with foam inhibitors
such as fat, alcohol or flavor substances.
Egg Albumen. Egg albumen (EA) or egg white is the
main protein found in eggs. On whipping, the proteins of
3
FOAM MAT DRYING OF FOOD MATERIALS S. A ET AL.

TABLE 1. FOAMING AND DRYING PARAMETERS USED FOR VARIOUS FOOD MATERIALS

Whipping time, min

S. no. Product Foaming agent and speed, rpm Drying, C Reference
1 Star fruit Methocel 65 HG, 0.1–0.5% w/w 4 min AD, 70–90 Karim and Wai 1999
2 Cowpea Egg albumin, 2.5–15% w/w 3–21min AD, 60 Falade et al. 2003
GMS, 2.5–15% w/w
3 Seabuckthorn CMC, 0–3% 3 min AD, 55 Kaushal et al. 2013
4 Banana Egg albumin, 10g/100g – AD, 80 Thuwapanichayanan et al. 2012
SPI, 5g/100g
WPC, 5g/100g
5 Tomato EA, 0–20% 5 min, 1,400 rpm AD, 65–70 Kadam and Balasubramanian 2011
6 Mango EA, 5–15% – AD, 60–75 Rajkumar et al. 2007
MC, 0.5%
7 Bael GMS, 0–8 g/100g 5,000 rpm – Bag et al. 2011
MC, 0–1 g/100g
8 Pineapple Tricalcium phosphate, 0–1% 18,000 rpm AD, 65–85 Kadam et al. 2012b
EA, 0–2%
CMC, 0.25%
9 Mandarin EA, 0–2% – AD, 65–85 Kadam et al. 2011
CMC, 0–1%
Milk, 0–9%
10 Papaya EA, 5–20% w/w 10–15 min AD, 60–70 Kandasamy and Varadharaju 2014
MC, 0–1%
GMS, 1–4%
11 Apple Gelatin, 0–1.5% w/w 3–9 min, 2,300 rpm AD, 60 Valenzuela and Aguilera 2013
12 Shrimp XG, 0.1% 5 min , 1,500 rpm AD, 50–70 Azizpour et al. 2013
13 Malabar Tamarind Methocel, 1% w/v 30 min AD, 70 Phaechamud et al. 2012
14 Yogurt MC, 0.5–2% 12 min AD, 50–70 Krasaekoopt and Bhatia 2012
EA, 1–4%
15 Tamarind Ovalbumin, 1% 4,600 rpm AD, 50 Vernon-Carter et al. 2001
Mesquite gum, 3%
Surface active compound blend,
0.5%
16 Plantain GMS, 0.005–0.02% 3–18 min 60–80 Falade and Okocha 2012
17 Tomato paste Myverol, 1% – AD, 71–82 Brygidyr et al. 1977
MWD, 0–2.5 kW
18 Blue Honeysuckle GMS, 6% 2 min , 360 radian/min MWD, 140–700 W Zheng et al. 2013
berry SPI, 3%
CMC, 0.5%
19 Blackcurrant GMS, 3% – MWD, 140–700 W Zheng et al. 2011
SPI, 1.5%
CMC, 0.5%
20 Apple EA, 3% – FD, 20C, 48 h Raharitsifa and Ratti 2010a
MC, 1%
21 Egg White XG, 0.125–1% 5, 4,000 rpm FD, 20C, 24 h Muthukumaran 2007
Glycol Alginate, 0.25–1%
MC, 0.25–1%

EA, egg albumen; CMC, carboxymethyl cellulose; GMS, glycerol mono stearate; MC, methyl cellulose; SPI, soy protein isolate; WPC, whey protein
concentrate; XG, xanthan gum; AD, air drying; FD, freeze-drying; MWD, microwave drying.

egg white denature at the interface and interact with one
another to form stable, viscoelastic interfacial film. The
properties of albumen foams have been investigated with
emphasis on their volume increase and stability (Elizalde
et al. 1991; Lomakina and Mikova 2006). Greater foam
volume has been reported for egg white that are beaten at
room temperature than for those beaten at refrigerated tem-
perature (Henry and Barbour 1933). The bubble size of
foam has been investigated and reported that the maximum
number of bubbles were in the size range of 30–40 μm
diameter, followed by 20–30 and 10–20 μm diameter
when egg white foam made with 0.125% xanthan gum
(Muthukumaran 2007). It has been analyzed that the whip-
ping time for EA was significantly shorter than other
foaming agents, which implies that the egg white proteins
could be more rapidly adsorbed at the air-liquid interface
and more rapidly denatured than the other proteins
(Townsend and Nakai 1983). The EA stabilized foams were
collapsed after 20 min of whipping and found to be
unstable, thus could not be used to dried products (Falade

4 Journal of Food Processing and Preservation •• (2014) ••–•• © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
S. A ET AL.
et al. 2003). In those cases, foam stabilizers may be added to
enhance the stability of foam over time (Muthukumaran
2007). The addition of EA to the carrageenan enhanced the
surface area, reduced drying time and increased the water
diffusivity (Djaeni et al. 2013). Studies revealed that the
microstructure of dried EA banana foam was more compact
and elongate. The stability of gas bubbles produced from
EA was less, leading to more bubble collapse and subse-
quent more extensive shrinkage. Extensive shrinkage caused
distortion of a sample and resulted in elongation of the
pores (Thuwapanichayanan et al. 2012).
Whey Protein. Whey protein is derived from dairy and is
a by-product of the cheese-making process. It is a potential
source of functional protein that can be used as an emulsi-
fier, a freeze thaw stabilizer and a whitening agent (Kinsella
and Whitehead 1989). Whey protein concentrate (WPC) is
the substance obtained by the removal of sufficient nonpro-
tein constituents from pasteurized whey so that the finished
dry product contains > 25% protein. WPC may be distin-
guished as low protein WPC (25%–45%), medium protein
WPC (45–60%) and high protein WPC (60–80%). WPC is
further processed and purified into whey protein isolate
(WPI; 90%). It took 50 min of whipping time for WPC to
produce foam density (FD) of 0.3 g/cm3 and was longer
than that of EA foam (20 min). WPC banana foam had
the least shrinkage, highest void area fraction and highest
value of the effective moisture diffusivity than EA
(Thuwapanichayanan et al. 2012). The author also observed
very porous structure of dried banana foam when WPC was
used. The WPI foam overrun was maintained ever after
continued whipping, whereas egg white foam overrun
decreased quickly with time. The increasing foam overrun
of WPI can be explained as it does not have the basic
protein lysozyme and thus does not exhibit the electrostatic
interactions. Further, it was also due to the denaturation of
proteins present in whey, namely β-lactoglobins (Phillips
et al. 1990). The greater solubility of WPI in water and the
surface hydrophobicity account for the better foam ability
of WPI (Abirached et al. 2012).
Soy Protein. Soy protein is a protein is made from
soybean meal that has been dehulled and defatted. Soy
protein isolate (SPI) is a highly refined or purified form of
soy protein with a minimum protein content of 90%. The
functional characteristics associated with SPI were gelation,
emulsification, viscosity, water binding, dispersability and
foaming or whipping properties (Daniel 2004). The addi-
tion of SPI at a concentration of 5 g/100 g could produce
the minimum FD of 0.8 g/cm3. However, the increase in
concentration to 10 g/100 g reduced the FD to about 0.5 g/
cm3 and also instability of SPI foams over time was noted.
This may be due to the compact tertiary structure of the soy
Journal of Food Processing and Preservation •• (2014) ••–•• © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
FOAM MAT DRYING OF FOOD MATERIALS
protein, which provides poor foaming properties such as
foam formation and foam drainage (Martínez et al. 2009).
The elongation of microstructure of SPI banana foams rep-
resented the instability of foam, which was due to bubble
collapse and extensive shrinkage (Thuwapanichayanan et al.
2012).
Guar Foaming Albumin. Guar foaming albumin (GFA)
is an albumin fraction extracted from guar meal, with high
foaming and stabilizing ability. The foaming activity of GFA
was 10 times higher than that of egg white at low protein
concentrations and would be best suited to allergic patients
against animal proteins. The foaming functionality of GFA
was observed and reported that GFA can produce smaller
and more uniform bubbles than EA; the average bubble size
of GFA was half of that of EA with a much narrower size
distribution. Smaller foam bubbles can withstand heavier
load than larger bubbles; the smaller the bubble sizes, the
stiffer and stronger the foams become. Hence, the observed
small bubble sizes of GFA substantiate the stability of GFA
foams (Shimoyama et al. 2008).
Foam Stabilizers
Foam stabilizers are ingredients that decrease the instability
of foams. Generally, polysaccharides are employed as stabi-
lizers. Many polysaccharides being hydrophilic, they do not
adsorb at the interface. It has been shown however that they
can enhance the stability of foam proteins by a thickening
or a gelling effect of the aqueous solution (Klitzing and
Müller 2002). CMC or cellulose gum is the most common
foam stabilizer used by many of the researchers (Table 1). It
is often incorporated in food as its sodium salt, sodium
CMC, as a stabilizer to stabilize emulsions and as thickener
or viscosity modifier. CMC is found to be a good choice to
produce mechanically and thermodynamically stable foam,
which can be successfully dried using foam mat drying.
Some of the other foam stabilizers are thickening or gelling
agents such as xanthan gum, Arabic gum, starches, pectins
and gelatin. These agents act by either increasing the viscos-
ity of the continuous phase or by forming a three-
dimensional network that retards the movement of
components within the foam (Walsh et al. 2008). The com-
bined presence of proteins and polysaccharides provide a
net attraction between the two kinds of macromolecules
(Carp et al. 2004). Previous researches on the effect of poly-
saccharides on foaming properties of food proteins have
shown that foam stability is strongly increased. The use of
various polysaccharides such as xanthan gum and alginates
to enhance the stability of emulsions has been reported. It
has been found that part of the xanthan gum is adsorbed at
the oil/water interface, lowering the surface tension and
reducing the droplet size. The other part was found to form
5
FOAM MAT DRYING OF FOOD MATERIALS
liquid crystalline lamellae in the continuous water phase
and to stabilize the emulsion by physically trapping the
emulsion droplets in the micro gel matrix. Because the
foaming and emulsifying mechanisms are similar, identical
effect can occur on foaming stabilization by polysaccharides
(Hennock et al. 1984). Proteins can also be used as stabiliz-
ers. For a protein to be a good stabilizing agent, it should be
able to reduce the surface energy levels between the bubbles
as they are continuously created during foaming (German
and Phillips 1994).
Foam Characteristics
The drying rate of any foamed materials depends greatly on
the foaming characteristics such as FD, foam expansion
(FE), foam stability and bubble size. The FD is used to
evaluate the whipping properties, can be calculated as the
ratio of mass of foam to the volume of foam. The more air
incorporated during whipping, the lower the FD; the more
air present in the foam, the higher the whippability (Falade
et al. 2003). The increase in FD was attributed to more
liquid film thinning, more mechanical deformation and
more bubble wall rupture during extended whipping (Lau
and Dickinson 2005). Higher FD resulted in prolonged
drying time, which could lead to inferior product quality
caused by thermal degradation.
Foams are highly susceptible to film drainage, where the
liquid flows between the dispersed cells, leaving the cells to
be forced closer together, eventually forming a thin film
(Damodaran 2005). This film then gets steadily thinner
until it breaks and the two adjacent cells coalesce into one
larger cell, leads to instability of foams (Fig. 3; Green et al.
6 Journal of Food Processing and Preservation •• (2014) ••–•• © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
S. A ET AL.
FIG. 3. LIQUID DRAINAGE FROM FOAM CELLS
2013). Mechanical and thermal stability of foam is necessary
for foam mat drying. The stable foams were produced using
suitable foaming agents and stabilizers. The foam should be
stiff enough to not flow through the orifices of the support-
ing grid. The stability of foams can be determined by many
factors like drainage of continuous phase, change in density
and change in bubble size over specified time interval. Foam
stability can also be determined by measuring the foam
height and weight loss of foam over a period of time
(German and Phillips 1994). The structural stability of
foam can be determined by using optical methods
(Nekrasov et al. 2002). Foams that do not collapse for at
least 1 h are considered mechanically or thermally stable for
the entire drying process (Ratti and Kudra 2006).
Drying
The foam is spread out in a sheet or mat and dried by
means of heated air at atmospheric pressure. Tiny bubbles
in the foam expose to larger surface area for moisture
evaporation. The rapid drying is due to the moisture move-
ment by capillarity in the liquid films separating foam
bubbles. The foaming renders the drying mass extremely
porous and more amenable to drying to its inner most
layers. In general, hot air is selected as a drying medium for
foam mat drying. Few researchers had carried out micro-
wave foam mat drying (MFD) and foam mat freeze-drying.
Continuous Foam Mat Dryer. Most of the previous
studies in foam mat drying of liquid foods used the batch
type drying using thin layer cabinet dryer (Falade et al.
2003; Sankat and Castaigne 2004; Thuwapanichayanan et al.
S. A ET AL.
2008; Kandasamy et al. 2012). A continuous belt vacuum
dryer for drying of milk foam was designed, (Schoppet et al.
1965; Aceto et al. 1972), where the foamed milk of 45% w/w
solids was deposited on the stainless steel belt, tensed over
heating and cooling drums. Various combinations of
radiant heaters were placed above and below the belt to pre-
condition the feed, and to dry the product. Then, the dried
product was scrapped from the belt, which rolled over the
cooling drum. The continuous type foam mat dryer for
drying of mango pulp consists of a foaming unit with foam
regulator, chute, Teflon belt, heating coils and blower with
supporting frame. The Teflon belt of 4.8 m length with
2 mm thickness was allowed to run between the driving and
driven pulleys. Two heating coils (0.5 kW) were fixed in the
drying chamber one after the other to maintain the set tem-
perature. The heat inside the drying chamber was main-
tained uniformly by supplying the hot air in such a way that
it could pass above and below the Teflon belt and also
through the heating coils fixed in the drying chamber. The
experimental values showed that time taken for drying of
foamed pulp was 35 min against 75 min for the fresh pulp
at 1 mm thickness (Rajkumar et al. 2007).
MFD. The foams are dried in a thin layer which resulted in
limited throughput even in optimized drying conditions, is
a main drawback of the foam mat drying. This could be
overcome by the use of microwaves. The distinct advantages
of microwaves are volumetric heating (Mitra and Meda
2009; Dev and Raghavan 2012) and large evaporation area
of moisture on the foam surfaces. Microwave drying was
found to be better than conventional methods, such as hot
air drying freeze-drying and spray drying, with regard to
efficiency, energy consumption and quality of the final
product (Dev et al. 2008). MFD has been used by few
researchers to dry foamed fruit purees. During the micro-
wave drying of foamed berry pulp, it was found that the
moisture removal rate has three stages, named as accelera-
tion stage, slow decline stage and quick decay stage, in
microwave drying process (Sun et al. 2012). It was found
that both thermal conductivity and specific heat initially
decreased and then increased with microwave power. The
variations in thermal–physical properties were attributed to
the change in moisture content and temperature of the pro-
cessed material (Zheng et al. 2013). This implied that the
increased microwave power intensified the moisture evapo-
ration inside the foamed berry puree, which caused the
interior change of dehydration puree from dense to puffing
state. The drying time was substantially decreased when
microwave energy was used, especially for the mats
of greater thickness (Brygidyr et al. 1977). Eventually,
the usage of microwave energy for drying of foamed
fruit purees may be considered for large-scale production.
Journal of Food Processing and Preservation •• (2014) ••–•• © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
FOAM MAT DRYING OF FOOD MATERIALS
Foam Mat Freeze-Drying. Freeze-drying is generally
used to manufacture dehydrated products with excellent
final quality because of the low temperatures during the
process and the direct sublimation of water from solid to
vapor states. Some researchers successfully used foaming
prior to freeze-drying in order to reduce dehydration time
of apple juice (Raharitsifa and Ratti 2010a) and egg white
(Muthukumaran 2007). The drying rate was higher during
the initial stage of drying because of the increased surface
area caused by foaming, which helped in faster removal of
moisture from the sample. Obviously, the heat transfer must
also be higher during the initial stage because of foamed
surface with higher moisture content. The drying rate was
lower at the end of drying because of reduced moisture
content of the egg white sample. It was also observed that
nonfoamed egg white took nearly 15 h to remove 50% of ice
as compared with only 6 h with foamed sample
(Muthukumaran 2007). A mathematical model based on
artificial neural networks was used to represent foam kinet-
ics and temperature curves during freeze-drying. Though
foaming reduced freeze-drying time, the insulation prop-
erty of foams was more significant in slowing down the
freeze-drying process than the increased surface area avail-
able for mass transfer due to foaming (Raharitsifa and Ratti
2010a). Foam freeze-drying of apple juice showed substan-
tially higher glass transition temperatures (Tg) than the
nonfoamed product (Raharitsifa and Ratti 2010b).
Quality of Foam-Dried Products
Processing and subsequent storage of dried products may
cause variations in their physicochemical and microbial
characteristics (Kadam et al. 2005). The heat involved
during foam mat drying may also have some detrimental
effect on quality of end product. The physicochemical and
microbial characteristics of foam-dried powder were ana-
lyzed by various researchers. The sugar content of foam-
dried tomato was found to increase on increasing the
percentage of foaming agents. This may be due to the inher-
ent content of foaming agents used contributed to the total
sugar content of the sample (Kadam et al. 2012a). Similar
increase in reducing sugars was observed during foam mat
drying of pineapple and was due to acidic hydrolysis of
sugars, which might have resulted in breakdown of disac-
charides to monosaccharides (Muralikrishna et al. 1969;
Kadam et al. 2010b). Storage studies of mandarin powder
also revealed that conversion of nonreducing sugars to
reducing sugars, contributed to increase in the total sugar
content of the powder. Enhanced phosphorus and calcium
content could be attributed to inherent content of these
minerals in the foaming agents used. The total acid content
was found to decline until the second month of storage, and
later on, the total acid increased until the sixth month. A
7
FOAM MAT DRYING OF FOOD MATERIALS
decreasing trend in ascorbic acid content of foam mat-dried
powder was due to its heat-sensitive nature and the same
was observed in foam-dried mandarin (Kadam et al. 2011),
pineapple (Kadam et al. 2012b), tomato (Kadam et al.
2012a). During the storage studies of foam-dried mango
powder, the total acid content was found to decline until the
second month of storage, and later on increased until the
sixth month (Kadam et al. 2010b). There was no fungal and
bacterial growth detected in the foam-dried pineapple
powder, whereas the fresh pineapple pulp showed a huge
microbial load both for fungi and bacteria. This clearly indi-
cates that the drying process of fruit powder greatly reduced
the microbial load (Kadam et al. 2012b). During the sixth
month of storage of foam-dried mandarin powder, an
increasing trend of bacterial growth was observed. However,
the number of colonies did not exceed the permissible
limits. The foam-dried powder was found to have minimum
number of bacterial colonies when compared with the
control samples (Kadam et al. 2011). Similar results were
reported for tomato (Kadam et al. 2012a) and mango
(Kadam et al. 2010b). The studies indicated that foam-dried
powders can be stored for a period of 6 months without any
loss in quality.
The texture of the dried banana foam mat was more
porous, hard and brittle. During the course of drying, finer
pores are opened and new pores are created through mois-
ture movement. The dried flaky material could be readily
ground in a mill to produce dehydrated banana powder
(Sankat and Castaigne 2004). Foam freeze-dried apple
powder was more hygroscopic than nonfoamed samples.
However, foam freeze-dried apple juice powder needed
more time to dissolve than the nonfoamed one, probably
because of the addition of macromolecules like EA or
methyl cellulose to the juice. It is revealed that foam freeze-
dried samples showed a skeletal like structure with high
porosity and stretched pore shape; whereas nonfoamed
freeze-dried apple juice presented a compact and less
porous structure (Raharitsifa and Ratti 2010b). Chand and
Pandey ( 2012) analyzed the flowability and degree of
caking of Malta powder. It was found that flowability
increased on increasing the foaming agents. On the other
hand, decreasing trend was observed in degree of caking
with increasing quantity of foaming agents.
FINAL REMARKS
Foam mat drying process has unique advantages like suit-
ability for all types of juices, rapid drying at lower tempera-
ture, retention of nutritional quality, easy reconstitution
and cost-effective for producing easily reconstitutable juice
powders. This renewed process is found to be cheaper than
vacuum, freeze and spray dryer. Fruit juice powders
obtained through this process have high economic poten-
8 Journal of Food Processing and Preservation •• (2014) ••–•• © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
S. A ET AL.
tials over their liquid counterparts such as reduced volume
or weight, reduced storage space, simpler handling and
transportation, and much longer shelf life. A proper under-
standing of selection of suitable foaming agents, foaming
properties such as FD, FE, foam stability, method of drying,
drying temperature, are required for the process optimiza-
tion, in order to obtain products with better nutritional
characteristics and process yield. Further development in
design of continuous foam dryer will help to achieve stable
foam, which in turn results in dried powder of high quality
and also studies on the microstructure characterization of
foams and foam-dried powders, computer simulation tech-
niques for the prediction of moisture and temperature dis-
tribution in the product requires the attention of
researchers for further up gradation of the process. It is
highly expected that the further improvement in foam mat
drying process, as well as the use of other drying method
combined with foam mat drying, will intensify the adoption
of this renewed method in the food industry.
REFERENCES
ABIRACHED, C., MEDRANO, C.A., ARAUJO, A.C., MOYNA,
P., AÑÓN, M.C. and PANIZZOLO, L.A. 2012. Comparison of
interfacial and foaming properties of soy and whey protein
isolates. J. Food Sci. Eng. 2, 376–381.
ACETO, N., SCHOPPET, E., SINNAMON, H. and PANZER, C.
1972. Continuous vacuum foam drying of whole milk under
simulated commercial scale conditions. J. Dairy Sci. 55,
875–879.
AKINTOYE, O. and OGUNTUNDE, A. 1991. Preliminary
investigation on the effect of foam stabilizers on the physical
characteristics and reconstitution properties of foam-mat
dried soymilk. Drying Technol. 9, 245–262.
AZIZPOUR, M., MOHEBBI, M., HADDAD KHODAPARAST,
M.H. and VARIDI, M. 2013. Foam-mat drying of shrimp:
Characterization and drying kinetics of foam. Agr. Eng. Int.
15, 159–165.
BAG, S.K., SRIVASTAV, P.P. and MISHRA, H.N. 2011.
Optimization of process parameters for foaming of bael
(Aegle marmelos L.) fruit pulp. Food Bioprocess Tech. 4,
1450–1458.
BANIEL, A., FAINS, A. and POPINEAU, Y. 1997. Foaming
properties of egg albumen with a bubbling apparatus
compared with whipping. J. Food Sci. 62, 377–381.
BRYGIDYR, A., RZEPECKA, M. and MCCONNELL, M. 1977.
Characterization and drying of tomato paste foam by hot air
and microwave energy. Can. Inst. Food Sci. Technol. J. 10,
313–319.
CARP, D., BAEZA, R., BARTHOLOMAI, G. and PILOSOF, A.
2004. Impact of proteins–κ-carrageenan interactions on foam
properties. LWT – Food Sci. Technol. 37, 573–580.
CHAND, K. and PANDEY, R. 2012. Optimization of foam mat
drying process variables for malta powder. Int. J. Food Agrc.
Vet. Sci. 2, 67–73.
S. A ET AL.
DAMODARAN, S. 2005. Protein stabilization of emulsions and
foams. J. Food Sci. 70, R54–R66.
DANIEL, C. 2004. Soy Protein Concentrate: Technology,
Properties and Applications, Chap. 6. In Soybeans as
Functional Foods and Ingredients (K Liu, ed.) AOCS Press,
Champaign, IL, USA.
DEV, S., PADMINI, T., ADEDEJI, A., GARIÉPY, Y. and
RAGHAVAN, G. 2008. A comparative study on the effect of
chemical, microwave, and pulsed electric pretreatments on
convective drying and quality of raisins. Drying Technol. 26,
1238–1243.
DEV, S.R. and RAGHAVAN, V.G. 2012. Advancements in drying
techniques for food, fiber, and fuel. Drying Technol. 30,
1147–1159.
DICKINSON, E. 1992. Introduction to Food Colloids,
Oxford University Press, UK.
DICKINSON, E. 1998. Proteins at interfaces and in emulsions
Stability, rheology and interactions. J. Chem. Soc.
Faraday Trans. 94, 1657–1669.
DJAENI, M., PRASETYANINGRUM, A., SASONGKO, S.,
WIDAYAT, W. and HII, C. 2013. Application of foam-mat
drying with egg white for carrageenan: Drying rate and
product quality aspects. J. Food Sci. Technol. 3, 1–6.
ELIZALDE, B., GIACCAGLIA, D., PILOSOF, A. and
BARTHOLOMAI, G. 1991. Kinetics of liquid drainage from
protein-stabilized foams. J. Food Sci. 56, 24–26.
FALADE, K., ADEYANJU, K. and UZO-PETERS, P. 2003.
Foam-mat drying of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) using
glyceryl monostearate and egg albumin as foaming agents.
Eur. Food Res. Technol. 217, 486–491.
FALADE, K.O. and OKOCHA, J.O. 2012. Foam-mat drying of
plantain and cooking banana (Musa spp.). Food Bioprocess
Tech. 5, 1173–1180.
FALADE, K.O. and SOLADEMI, O.J. 2010. Modelling of air
drying of fresh and blanched sweet potato slices. Int. J. Food
Sci. Technol. 45, 278–288.
FOEGEDING, E.A., LUCK, P. and DAVIS, J. 2006. Factors
determining the physical properties of protein foams.
Food Hydrocolloids. 20, 284–292.
FUMAGALLI, F. and SILVEIRA, A.M. 2005. Quality evaluation
of microwave-dried Packham’s triumph pear. Drying Technol.
23, 2215–2226.
GERMAN, J.B. and PHILLIPS, L. 1994. Protein interactions in
foams: Protein–gas phase interactions. In Protein Functionality
in Food Systems (N.S. Hettiarachchy, G.R. Ziegler, eds.)
pp. 181–208, Marcel Dekker. Inc, New York, NY.
GREEN, A.J., LITTLEJOHN, K.A., HOOLEY, P. and COX, P.W.
2013. Formation and stability of food foams and aerated
emulsions: Hydrophobins as novel functional ingredients.
Curr. Opin. Colloid Interface Sci. 18, 292–301.
HAILING, P.J. and WALSTRA, P. 1981. Protein-stabilized foams
and emulsions. Crit. Rev. Food Sci. Nutr. 15, 155–203.
HENNOCK, M., RAHALKAR, R. and RICHMOND, P. 1984.
Effect of xanthan gum upon the rheology and stability of
oil-water emulsions. J. Food Sci. 49, 1271–1274.
Journal of Food Processing and Preservation •• (2014) ••–•• © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
FOAM MAT DRYING OF FOOD MATERIALS
HENRY, W. and BARBOUR, A. 1933. Beating properties of egg
white. Ind. Eng. Chem. 25, 1054–1058.
HERTZENDORF, M.S., MOSHY, R.J. and SELTZER, E. 1970.
Foam drying in the food industry. Crit. Rev. Food Sci. Nutr. 1,
25–70.
INDRAWATI, L. and NARSIMHAN, G. 2008. Characterization
of protein stabilized foam formed in a continuous shear
mixing apparatus. J. Food Eng. 88, 456–465.
KADAM, D.M., PATIL, R.T. and KAUSHIK, P. 2010a. Foam mat
drying of fruit and vegetable products. In Drying of foods,
vegetables and fruits – Volume 1 (S.V. Jangam, C.L. Law and
A.S. Mujumdar, eds) pp. 113–124, ISBN: 978-981-08-6759-1,
Published in Singapore.
KADAM, D.M. and BALASUBRAMANIAN, S. 2011. Foam mat
drying of tomato juice. J. Food Process. Preserv. 35, 488–495.
KADAM, D.M., SAMUEL, D.V.K. and PANDEY, A.K. 2005.
Influence of different treatments on dehydrated cauliflower
quality. Int. J. Food Sci. Technol. 40, 849–856.
KADAM, D.M., WILSON, R.A. and KAUR, S. 2010b.
Determination of biochemical properties of foam-mat dried
mango powder. Int. J. Food Sci. Technol. 45, 1626–1632.
KADAM, D.M., RAI, D.R., PATIL, R., WILSON, R.A., KAUR, S.
and KUMAR, R. 2011. Quality of fresh and stored foam mat
dried Mandarin powder. Int. J. Food Sci. Technol. 46,
793–799.
KADAM, D.M., WILSON, R.A., KAUR, S. and MANISHA.
2012a. Influence of foam mat drying on quality of tomato
powder. Int. J. Food Prop. 15, 211–220.
KADAM, D.M., WILSON, R.A., KAUR, V., CHADHA, S.,
KAUSHIK, P., KAUR, S., PATIL, R.T. and RAI, D.R. 2012b.
Physicochemical and microbial quality evaluation of
foam-mat-dried pineapple powder. Int. J. Food Sci. Technol.
47, 1654–1659.
KANDASAMY, P. and VARADHARAJU, N. 2014. Assessment of
biochemical characteristics of foam-mat dried papaya
powder. Int. J. Agrc. Food Sci. 4, 54–58.
KANDASAMY, P., VARADHARAJU, N., KALEMULLAH, S. and
MALADHI, D. 2012. Optimization of process parameters for
foam-mat drying of papaya pulp. J. Food Sci. Technol. 51,
2526–2534.
KARIM, A.A. and WAI, C.C. 1999. Foam-mat drying of starfruit
(Averrhoa carambola) purée. Stability and air drying
characteristics. Food Chem. 64, 337–343.
KAUSHAL, M., SHARMA, P. and SHARMA, R. 2013.
Formulation and acceptability of foam mat dried
seabuckthorn (Hippophae salicifolia) leather. J. Food
Sci. Technol. 50, 78–85.
KINSELLA, J. and WHITEHEAD, D. 1989. Proteins in whey:
Chemical, physical, and functional properties. Adv. Food
Nutr. Res. 33, 437–438.
KLITZING, R.V. and MÜLLER, H.-J. 2002. Film stability
control. Curr. Opin. Colloid Interface Sci. 7, 42–49.
KRASAEKOOPT, W. and BHATIA, S. 2012. Production of
yogurt powder using foam-mat drying. AU J. Technol. 15,
166–171.
9
FOAM MAT DRYING OF FOOD MATERIALS
KUDRA, T. and RATTI, C. 2006. Foam-mat drying: Energy and
cost analyses. Can. Biosyst. Eng. 48, 3.27–3.32.
LAU, C.K. and DICKINSON, E. 2005. Instability and structural
change in an aerated system containing egg albumen and
invert sugar. Food Hydrocolloids. 19, 111–121.
LOMAKINA, K. and MIKOVA, K. 2006. A study of the factors
affecting the foaming properties of egg white-a review.
Czech. J. Food Sci. 24, 110–118.
MARTÍNEZ, K.D., CARRERA SÁNCHEZ, C.,
RODRÍGUEZ PATINO, J.M. and PILOSOF, A.M. 2009.
Interfacial and foaming properties of soy protein and their
hydrolysates. Food Hydrocolloids. 23, 2149–2157.
MITRA, P. and MEDA, V. 2009. Optimization of microwave-
vacuum drying parameters of Saskatoon berries using
response surface methodology. Drying Technol. 27,
1089–1096.
MORGAN, A., GRAHAM, R., GINNETTE, L. and WILLIAMS,
G. 1961. Recent developments in foam-mat drying.
Food Technol. 15, 37–39.
MURALIKRISHNA, M., NANJUNDASWAMY, A. and
SIDDAPPA, G. 1969. Guava powder-preparation,
packaging and storage studies. J. Food Sci. Technol. 6,
93–98.
MUTHUKUMARAN, A. 2007. Foam-mat freeze drying of egg
white and mathematical modeling. McGill University.
NARCHI, I., VIAL, C. and DJELVEH, G. 2009. Effect of
protein–polysaccharide mixtures on the continuous
manufacturing of foamed food products. Food Hydrocolloids.
23, 188–201.
NEKRASOV, A.G., KROTOV, V.V. and RUSANOV, A.I. 2002.
Optical method of studying foam structural stability.
Colloid J. 64, 778–780.
PHAECHAMUD, T., SARUNYAKASITRIN, K. and
CHONCHEEWA, C. 2012. Instant powder of malabar
tamarind fruit extract prepared by foam-mat method.
Adv. Mat. Res. 506, 351–354.
PHILLIPS, L., SCHULMAN, W. and KINSELLA, J. 1990. pH and
heat treatment effects on foaming of whey protein isolate.
J. Food Sci. 55, 1116–1119.
PRINS, A. 1988. Principles of foam stability. In Advances in food
emulsions and foams (E. Dickinson and G. Stainsby, eds)
pp. 91–122, Elsevier, London.
RAHARITSIFA, N. and RATTI, C. 2010a. Foam-mat
freeze-drying of apple juice part 1: Experimental data and ann
simulations. J. Food Process Eng. 33, 268–283.
RAHARITSIFA, N. and RATTI, C. 2010b. Foam-mat
freeze-drying of apple juice part 2: Stability of dry products
during storage. J. Food Process Eng. 33, 341–364.
RAJKUMAR, P., KAILAPPAN, R., VISWANATHAN, R. and
RAGHAVAN, G. 2007. Drying characteristics of foamed
10 Journal of Food Processing and Preservation •• (2014) ••–•• © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
S. A ET AL.
Alphonso mango pulp in a continuous type foam mat dryer.
J. Food Eng. 79, 1452–1459.
RATTI, C. and KUDRA, T. 2006. Drying of foamed biological
materials: Opportunities and challenges. Drying Technol. 24,
1101–1108.
SANKAT, C.K. and CASTAIGNE, F. 2004. Foaming and drying
behaviour of ripe bananas. LWT – Food Sci. Technol. 37,
517–525.
SCHOPPET, E., ACETO, N., ESKEW, R., CRAIG, J., JR. and
HOLDEN, T. 1965. Continuous vacuum drying of whole milk
foam. II. Modified procedure. J. Dairy Sci. 48, 1436–1440.
SHIMOYAMA, A., KIDO, S., KINEKAWA, Y.-I. and DOI, Y.
2008. Guar foaming albumin: A low molecular mass protein
with high foaming activity and foam stability isolated from
guar meal. J. Agric. Food Chem. 56, 9200–9205.
SUN, Y., ZHENG, X., XU, X., LIU, C., LI, Q. and ZHANG, Q.
2012. Drying properties and parameters of blue honeysuckles
pulp under foam assisted microwave drying conditions. Int. J.
Food Eng. 8, 1–21.
THUWAPANICHAYANAN, R., PRACHAYAWARAKORN, S. and
SOPONRONNARIT, S. 2008. Drying characteristics and
quality of banana foam mat. J. Food Eng. 86, 573–583.
THUWAPANICHAYANAN, R., PRACHAYAWARAKORN, S. and
SOPONRONNARIT, S. 2012. Effects of foaming agents and
foam density on drying characteristics and textural property
of banana foams. LWT – Food Sci. Technol. 47, 348–357.
TOWNSEND, A.A. and NAKAI, S. 1983. Relationships between
hydrophobicity and foaming characteristics of food proteins.
J. Food Sci. 48, 588–594.
VALENZUELA, C. and AGUILERA, J.M. 2013. Aerated apple
leathers: Effect of microstructure on drying and mechanical
properties. Drying Technol. 31, 1951–1959.
VERNON-CARTER, E.J., ESPINOSA-PAREDES, G.,
BERISTAIN, C.I. and ROMERO-TEHUITZIL, H. 2001. Effect
of foaming agents on the stability, rheological properties,
drying kinetics and flavour retention of tamarind foam-mats.
Food Res. Int. 34, 587–598.
WALSH, D.J., RUSSELL, K. and FITZGERALD, R.J. 2008.
Stabilisation of sodium caseinate hydrolysate foams.
Food Res. Int. 41, 43–52.
ZAYAS, J.F. 1997. Foaming properties of proteins. In
Functionality of Proteins in Food (J.F. Zayas, ed.) pp. 260–309,
Springer – Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.
ZHENG, X., WANG, Y., LIU, C., SUN, J., LIU, B., ZHANG, B.,
LIN, Z., SUN, Y. and LIU, H. 2013. Microwave energy
absorption behavior of foamed berry puree under microwave
drying conditions. Drying Technol. 31, 785–794.
ZHENG, X.-Z., LIU, C.-H. and ZHOU, H. 2011. Optimization
of parameters for microwave-assisted foam mat drying of
blackcurrant pulp. Drying Technol. 29, 230–238.