food and bioproducts processing 9 0 ( 2 0 1 2 ) 667–675

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Food and Bioproducts Processing

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/fbp

Effect of spray drying conditions and feed composition on

the physical properties of black mulberry juice powder

Mahboubeh Fazaeli, Zahra Emam-Djomeh ∗ , Ahmad Kalbasi Ashtari, Mahmoud Omid

Transfer Properties Lab (TPL), Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Technology,
University of Tehran, 31587-11167 Karadj, Iran

a b s t r a c t

In this study, the effects of some processing parameters on moisture content, water activity, drying yield, bulk density,
solubility, glass transition temperature (Tg ), and microstructure of spray dried black mulberry (Morus nigra) juice
powders were investigated. A pilot-scale spray dryer was employed for the spray drying process and maltodextrin
with different dextrose equivalent (6, 9, and 20DE) and gum Arabic were used as carrier agent. Independent variables
were inlet air temperature (110, 130, and 150 ◦ C), compressed air flow rate (400, 600, and 800 L/h), concentration of
drying aids (8, 12, and 16%) and percent replacement of maltodextrin (6 and 9DE) by gum Arabic and maltodextrin
20DE (25, 50, and 75%). Between the different drying aids, maltodextrin 6DE shows the best effect on the properties
of black mulberry juice powders. The process drying yield ranges from 45 to 82%. The highest drying yield (82%) and
solubility (87%) refer to the blend of maltodextrin 6DE and gum Arabic. The lowest moisture content powders (1.5%)
produced at the compressed air flow rate of 800 L/h. Inlet air temperature negatively influenced the bulk density due
to the increase of powder’s porosity. The lower the bulk density, the higher the solubility of powder is. With regard
to morphology, powders produced with maltodextrin and gum Arabic presented the smallest size.
© 2012 The Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Black mulberry; Spray drying; Glass transition temperature; Yield; Bulk density; Solubility

1. Introduction those of pomegranates, grapes, and different berries have ben-

Spray drying is one of the techniques used extensively in food
related industries and it is used under optimal processing
conditions to obtain powders. Fruit juice powders have many
benefits and economic potentials over their liquid counter-
parts such as reduced volume or weight, reduced packaging,
easier handling and transportation, and much longer shelf
life. Besides, their physical state provides a stable, natural,
and easily dosable ingredient, which generally finds usage in
many foods and pharmaceutical products such as flavoring
and coloring agents (Shrestha et al., 2007).
Black mulberry (Morus nigra) is popular edible fruit, which
originates from Iran (Ercisli and Orhan, 2008). Black mulberry
juice is proven to be a very concentrated source of polyphe-
nols and anthocyanins (Suh et al., 2003). Fruits and vegetables
with high phenolic content have been studied extensively for
its cancer preventing properties (Hertog et al., 1997). Many
epidemiological studies showed that red color juices such as
eficial effects on human health due to their high anthocyanin
content and antioxidant activity (Lin and Tang, 2007).
Fruit juice powders obtained by spray drying may present
some problems in their properties, such as stickiness, hygro-
scopicity, and low solubility. According to Bhandari et al.
(1997), the sticky behavior of sugar and acid-rich materials is
attributed to low molecular weight sugars such as fructose,
glucose, and sucrose and organic acids such as citric, malic
and tartaric acid, which constitute more than 90% of the solids
in fruit juices and purees. These materials have low glass tran-
sition temperature (sucrose: 62 ◦ C, fructose: −5 ◦ C, glucose:
32 ◦ C), so molecular mobility of them is high when the tem-
perature of the spray-dried particle is greater than 20 ◦ C above
the glass transition temperature. They are very hygroscopic
in their amorphous state and loose free flowing nature at high
moisture content. While drying at temperatures normally pre-
vailing in spray dryers, they tend to stick to the walls of the
dryer and finally give a paste like structure instead of powder

∗
Corresponding author. Tel.: +98 261 2248804; fax: +98 261 2248804.
E-mail address: emamj@ut.ac.ir (Z. Emam-Djomeh).
Received 4 April 2011; Received in revised form 3 April 2012; Accepted 17 April 2012
0960-3085/$ – see front matter © 2012 The Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fbp.2012.04.006
668 food and bioproducts processing 9 0 ( 2 0 1 2 ) 667–675
(Masters, 1979). The glass-transition temperature is the single
most important parameter for assessing the ability of sugar-
rich materials to be spray-dried (Imtiaz-Ul-Islam Md Langrish,
2009). One method to avoid stickiness is to spray-dry at tem-
peratures lower than the Tg + 20 ◦ C. However, this approach is
usually not economically feasible. The other method is the use
of carriers; the high molecular weight of drying aids increases
the glass transition temperature of the product (Cabral et al.,
2009).
The carrier agents normally used in the spray drying of fruit
juices are maltodextrins and gum Arabic mainly due to their
high solubility and low viscosity, which are important con-
ditions for the spray drying process (Quek et al., 2007). Gum
Arabic is an effective carrier agent because of its emulsifying
properties, since it has a little protein content in its compo-
sition. Moreover, it exhibits high solubility and low viscosity
in aqueous solution, which facilitates the spray drying pro-
cess (Pitalua et al., 2010; Frascareli et al., 2012). Blend of gum
Arabic and maltodextrin proved to be more efficient than the
use of them separately in spray drying (Krishnan et al., 2005;
Fernandes et al., 2011).
The quality of spray-dried food is quite dependent on the
spray-dryer operating parameters. The spray-drying condition
was the best way to explain the change quality factors of the
product. Bhandari et al. (1993) carried out different tests to
obtain powder from some concentrated juices. According to
their experiments, the best results were obtained for a juice to
maltodextrin ratio of 65/35 for blackcurrant, 60/40 for apricot
and 55/45 for raspberry at inlet air temperatures between 90
and 160 ◦ C. Jumah et al. (2000) concluded that at high inlet air
temperature, particle size of jameed powder increase and bulk
density decrease. Goula and Adamopoulos (2005a) studied the
effect of inlet air temperature and compressed air flow rate on
the characteristics of spray dried tomato powder. They con-
cluded that drying yield increased with increases in inlet air
temperature and in compressed air flow rate. Shrestha et al.
(2007) show that an increase in maltodextrin concentration
causes a decrease in bulk density of orange juice powder; on
the other hand, Chegini and Ghobadian (2005) concluded that
bulk density decreased with increases in inlet air tempera-
ture. They also found that production of orange juice powder
without any carrier agent was impossible but using maltodex-
trin increased drying yield to 18–35%. Fazaeli et al. (2011) used
an artificial neural network to predict the physicochemical
properties of black mulberry juice powder. The model was val-
idated by experimental tests on a pilot spray dryer and was
proved able to accurately predict the most important proper-
ties of the powder, such as drying yield, browning index, bulk
density, anthocyanin content and antioxidant activity.
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of
inlet air temperature, compressed air flow rate, concentra-
tion of the carrier agents and using binary blends of drying
aids on the physical properties of black mulberry juice pow-
der. These include moisture content, water activity, drying
yield, bulk density, solubility, glass transition temperature,
and microstructure of spray dried black mulberry juice.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Sample preparation
Fruits of black mulberry (M. nigra) at a commercially mature
stage were purchased from a local market (Karaj, Iran). The
fruit was homogeneously and carefully selected in terms of
shape and ripeness, and then mixed with a blender. A sieve
was used to eliminate the seeds, and the extract was then
pressed softly in order to increase the yield. Finally, fresh juice
was clarified using a spiral ultrafiltration system with a molec-
ular weight cutoff equal to 40 kDa (Osmonic, USA). This step
was also necessary to avoid a heat load, and is commonly used
for sterilization and native enzyme inactivation. The cold,
sterile, single-strength clarified juice with 16% of total solu-
ble solid (TSS) was rapidly cooled and frozen at −25 ◦ C and
used for further experiments.
2.2. Spray drying
A Büchi mini spray dryer (Model B-191, Büchi Laboratoriums-
Technik, Flawil, Switzerland) equipped with two-fluid nozzle
was used in the spray-drying process. Forty-eight different
experiments were conducted in triplicate. In all experiments
the aspirator rate, the feed temperature, the feed rate, and the
atomizer pressure were kept at 925 N/m2 , 20 ◦ C, 150 mL/h, and
4.5 bar, respectively. Once the juice total solids were adjusted
(11%, w/w), 6 dextrose equivalent maltodextrin (Roquette,
France), 9 and 20 dextrose equivalent maltodextrin (Tongaat
Hulett starch, South Africa) and gum Arabic (Merk, Germany)
at three concentration levels of 8, 12, and 16% (w/w) and
micro-crystalline cellulose (Merk, Darmstat, Germany), at the
concentration of 1.5% (w/w) were added. In our previous work
(Fazaeli et al., 2012) the response surface methodology (RSM)
was used to find the optimal conditions of black mulberry juice
spray drying which resulted in air inlet temperature of 130 ◦ C,
carrier agent concentration of 8%, and compressed air flow
rate of 800 L/h. In order to investigate the effect of the mixture
of different drying aids 25, 50, and 75% replacement of mal-
todextrin (6 and 9DE) by gum Arabic and maltodextrin 20DE
were studied (Table 1). Three inlet air temperatures (110, 130
and 150 ◦ C), and three compressed air flow rates (400, 600, and
800 L/h) were used. Distilled water was fed to the dryer for
10 min before and after the spray-drying process. The powders
obtained by the spray drying process were weighed, sealed in
bottle, and stored in the dark.
2.3. Analytical methods
2.3.1. Drying yield
Spray drying yield was evaluated by the determination of the
product recovery given by the percentual ratio between the
total mass of product recovered by the mass of extract fed to
the system (dry basis).
2.3.2. Moisture content and water activity
The moisture content was determined based on AOAC method
(AOAC, 1990). Triplicate samples of black mulberry powder
(20 mg) were weighed and then dried in a vacuum oven at
70 ◦ C. The drying and weighing processes were repeated until
constant weight was obtained. Measurement of water activ-
ity was carried out using a water activity meter (Novasina Aw
Sprint TH-500, Switzerland). Triplicate samples were analyzed
and the mean was recorded.
2.3.3. Bulk density
Bulk density (g/mL) was determined by gently adding 2 g of
black mulberry powder into an empty 10 mL graduated cylin-
der and holding the cylinder on a vortex vibrator for 1 min.
The ratio of mass of the powder and the volume occupied
 food and bioproducts processing 9 0 ( 2 0 1 2 ) 667–675 669

Table 1 – Carrier agent concentrations of liquids used for

spray drying.
Carrier agent concentration

% MDa % GAb % MCCc

6DEd 9DE 20DE

8 0 0 0 1.5
12 0 0 0 1.5
16 0 0 0 1.5
0 8 0 0 1.5
0 12 0 0 1.5
0 16 0 0 1.5
0 0 8 0 1.5
0 0 12 0 1.5
0 0 16 0 1.5 Fig. 1 – Drying yield of black mulberry powders containing
0 0 0 8 1.5 various percentage of maltodextrin 9DE, in different inlet
0 0 0 12 1.5 air temperature and compressed air flow rate of 800 L/h.
0 0 0 16 1.5
2 0 6 0 1.5
2.3.6. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
4 0 4 0 1.5
6 0 2 0 1.5 The microstructure of the black mulberry juice powders
2 0 0 6 1.5 was examined using a scanning electron microscope (XL-30,
4 0 0 4 1.5 Philips, Amsterdam, The Netherlands). To obtain SEM images,
6 0 0 2 1.5 small amount of powders were taken from well mixed pow-
0 2 0 6 1.5 der samples and coated with very thin layer of gold under
0 4 0 4 1.5
high vacuum conditions, to provide a reflective surface for
0 6 0 2 1.5
the electron beam. Gold coating was carried out in a sput-
0 2 6 0 1.5
0 4 4 0 1.5 ter coater BIO-RAD E-5200 (Bio-Rad Laboratories Ltd., London,
0 6 2 0 1.5 UK) under a low vacuum in the presence of inert argon gas.
The gold-coated samples were subsequently viewed under the
a
MD, maltodextrin. microscope.
b
GA, gum Arabic.
c
MCC, micro-crystalline cellulose.
d
DE, dextrose equivalent. 2.3.7. Statistical analysis
All experiments were conducted in triplicate and an analysis
of variance was performed. The least significant difference at
in the cylinder determines the bulk density value (Goula and p < 0.05 was calculated using the Duncan Multiple Range Test
Adamopoulos, 2005b). on Minitab software (Minitab 15; Minitab Inc., Minneapolis,
USA). The data were expressed as mean ± SD.
2.3.4. Solubility
Solubility was determined according to the method used by 3. Results and discussion
Cano-Chauca et al. (2005), where 100 mL of distilled water were
transferred into a blender jar. The powder sample (1 g) was 3.1. Drying yield
carefully added to the blender which operates at 15,000 rpm
for 5 min. The solution was placed in a tube and centrifuged at Fig. 1 shows the effects of carrier agent concentration and
3000 × g for 5 min. An aliquot of 25 mL of the supernatant was inlet air temperature on the yield of spray-dried powders.
then transferred to pre-weighed Petri dishes and immediately Inlet air temperature showed a positive effect on process
oven-dried at 105 ◦ C for 5 h. The solubility (%) was calculated yield, which can be attributed to the greater efficiency of
as the weight difference. heat and mass transfer processes and decreasing the prob-
ability of hitting the inadequate drying particles to the drying
2.3.5. Tg point measurement chamber wall when higher inlet air temperatures are used.
The glass transition temperature (Tg ) of all spray dried pow- The same results were shown by Tonon et al. (2008), and
ders was determined by a Differential Scanning Calorimeter Goula and Adamopoulos (2005a). However, Papadakis et al.
or DSC (a 2010 Modulated DSC, TA Instrument, New Castle, (2006) showed that by increasing the inlet air temperature
DE, USA). The purge gas used was dry nitrogen (25 mL/min). the process yield of raisin juice decreased. It is due to
Indium and zinc (Perkin-Elmer standards) were used for tem- stickiness problems and it means that drying temperature
perature and heat flow calibration. The samples were cooled is above their glass transition temperatures. Increasing of
to desired temperature (−25 ◦ C) by fast cooling to reach tem- carrier agent concentration in black mulberry juice signif-
perature equilibrium at this temperature. Two to four mg of icantly increased the process yield (Fig. 1). It is related to
black mulberry juice powders were scanned in a hermetically increasing the Tg values of the amorphous fractions in the
sealed 50 ␮L DSC aluminum pans (Perkin-Elmer). An empty mixtures that are rich in low Tg components. This is in
aluminum pan was used as a reference. The tests were con- agreement with the results of Shrestha et al. (2007), Papadakis
ducted −50 ◦ C to 200 ◦ C with a heating rate of 10 ◦ C/min. The et al. (2006), and Quek et al. (2007). Although Tonon et al. (2008)
transfer of samples from container to DSC pan was done in a showed that increasing maltodextrin concentration decreased
sealed “Dry box” containing silica gel with regular N2 flushing, the process yield due to increasing the mixture viscosity.
to avoid moisture absorption by the sample. Increasing compressed air flow rate led to higher process yield
670 food and bioproducts processing 9 0 ( 2 0 1 2 ) 667–675
Fig. 2 – Drying yield of black mulberry powders containing
various carrier agents (8%), in different compressed air flow
rate and inlet air temperature of 130 ◦ C.
(Fig. 2). This is in agreement with the results published by
Goula and Adamopoulos (2005a), working with spray drying
of tomato pulp. Higher compressed air flow rate caused a
decrease in droplet diameters and because of the smaller par-
ticle size, the spray is narrower and denser and the droplets
strike the wall at lower parts of the drying chamber, where
their moisture content is much lower. Product formation on
the walls falls into two categories. Semi-wet deposits caused
by droplets, which are not sufficiently dry before hitting the
wall, and sticky deposits caused by the nature of the prod-
uct at the drying temperature (Masters, 1979). So decreasing
the process yield of samples by decreasing the compressed air
flow rate refers to the first category of deposit formation. As
shown in Fig. 2, by using different carrier agents, powders with
various drying yield are produced. The drying yield of pow-
ders was increased with decreasing DE value of maltodextrin.
Papadakis et al. (2006) reported similar results. They found
that by decreasing DE, the recovery of spray dried raisin juice
powder was increased. In this study the highest process yield
(82%) refers to powders produced with 6% maltodextrin 6DE
and 2% gum Arabic at inlet air temperature of 130 ◦ C and com-
pressed air flow rate of 800 L/h, and the lowest drying yield
(45%) refers to powders produced with 8% maltodextrin 20DE
at inlet air temperature of 110 ◦ C and compressed air flow rate
of 400 L/h.
3.2. Moisture content and water activity
Water activity is different from moisture content as it mea-
sures the availability of free water in a food system that
is responsible for any biochemical reactions, whereas the
moisture content represents the water composition in a food
system. High water activity indicates more free water avail-
able for biochemical reactions and hence, shorter shelf life
(Quek et al., 2007). The average water activity of powders
in this study ranged from 0.15 to 0.32 thus can be consid-
ered quite microbiologically stable. The effects of independent
variables on water activity are in agreement with the effects
of them on moisture content. The results showed the mois-
ture content of the spray-dried powders decreased with the
increase in inlet air temperature (Fig. 3); similar results were
observed for water activity of black mulberry powders. This
is because at higher inlet temperature, the rate of heat trans-
fer to the particle is greater, providing greater driving force for
moisture evaporation. Consequently, powders with reduced
Fig. 3 – Moisture content of black mulberry powders
containing various percentage of maltodextrin 9DE, in
different inlet air temperature and compressed air flow rate
of 800 L/h.
moisture content are formed. Similar results were reported
by Goula and Adamopoulos (2005b), Chegini and Ghobadian
(2005), Rodriguez-Hernandez et al. (2005), Ersus and Yurdagel
(2007), and Kha et al. (2010) in tomato, orange juice, cactus
pear juice, black carrot, and Gac juice powder, respectively.
The results also showed that the moisture content of black
mulberry powder decreased when the carrier agent concen-
tration increased from 8% to 12 or 16% (Fig. 3). These findings
could be explained by the fact that additional concentrations
of drying aid resulted in an increase in feed solids and a
reduction in total moisture for evaporation. It is in agreement
with results reported by Abadio et al. (2004), Grabowski et al.
(2006), and Kha et al. (2010). However, Goula and Adamopoulos
(2010) showed increase in moisture content with an increase
in maltodextrin concentration. Goula and Adamopoulos (2010)
concluded the presence of larger maltodextrin molecules
made it difficult for water molecules to diffuse. They used high
concentrations of maltodextrin (25, 50, 100 and 400%) for pro-
ducing orange juice powder and because of this increasing
carrier concentration caused an increase in moisture con-
tent. Fig. 4 shows higher compressed air flow rate caused
a decrease in moisture content of powders. It has similar
effect on water activity of black mulberry powders. Particle
size decreases inversely with compressed air flow rate, so
an increase in surface area per unit droplet volume results
in an increase in drying rates and a decrease in moisture
content.
Fig. 4 – Moisture content of black mulberry powders
containing various carrier agents (8%), in different
compressed air flow rate and inlet air temperature of 130 ◦ C.
 food and bioproducts processing 9 0 ( 2 0 1 2 ) 667–675 671

Fig. 6 – Solubility of black mulberry powders containing

Fig. 5 – Bulk density of black mulberry powders containing
various percentage of maltodextrin 9DE, in different inlet
various percentage of maltodextrin 9DE, in different inlet
air temperature and compressed air flow rate of 800 L/h.
air temperature and compressed air flow rate of 800 L/h.

Besides inlet air temperature, the outlet air temperature

has an important effect on the powder properties. By decreas-
ing compressed air flow rate or inlet air temperature, the outlet
temperature is decreased and because of that the moisture
content of powder is increased. At compressed air flow rate of
800, 600, and 400 L/h, the outlet air temperature is 57, 54, and
50 ◦ C, respectively (at inlet air temperature of 110 ◦ C), and 67,
61, and 55 ◦ C (at inlet air temperature of 130 ◦ C), and 82, 75,
and 68 ◦ C, respectively (at inlet air temperature of 150 ◦ C).
Effect of different carrier agents on moisture content is also
shown in Fig. 4. Higher DE maltodextrins causes an increase
in powder moisture content, because lower molecular weight
maltodextrins contained shorter chains and more hydrophilic
groups (Cai and Corke, 2000). Similar results were reported Fig. 7 – Bulk density of black mulberry powders containing
by Goula and Adamopoulos (2010). They studied the effect of various carrier agents (8%), in different compressed air flow
6, 12 and 21DE maltodextrins on moisture content of orange rate and inlet air temperature of 130 ◦ C.
juice powders and concluded increasing maltodextrin dex-
trose equivalent has a positive effect on moisture content. It is powders. This is consistent with the findings of a number of
due to the fact that high-DE maltodextrins develop stickiness studies (Al-asheh et al., 2003; Chegini and Ghobadian, 2005;
and reach a state of non-adhesion slower than low-DE mal- Goula and Adamopoulos, 2010; Kha et al., 2010). At very high
todextrins. The stickier a material is, the lower the drying rate temperatures, as evaporation rates are faster, products dry to
is. However, Rodriguez-Hernandez et al. (2005), working with a more porous or fragmented structure and implying a lower
spray drying of cactus pear juice, verified higher moisture con- shrinkage of the droplets, and so a lower density of the pow-
tent values for the powders produced with maltodextrin 10DE der. Increasing the drying air temperature generally produces
than for those produced with maltodextrin 20E, in contrast to an increase in particle size (Walton, 2000). Large particles may
the results obtained in this work. Their conditions for produc- sink, whereas small ones are dustier and generally float on
tion of cactus pear juice powder were inlet air temperature of water, making for uneven wetting and reconstitution. Chegini
200–225 ◦ C and maltodextrin concentration of 18–23%, both of and Ghobadian (2005), and Quek et al. (2007) reported that
these conditions were higher than those we used in this study.
The authors attributed such difference to the polymerization
degree of each agent and they concluded that the moisture
retention was greater for the maltodextrin 10DE due to its
better binder properties. The results show that the moisture
contents of the powders were significantly reduced by increas-
ing percent replacement of maltodextrin 6DE by gum Arabic.
The lowest water activity refers to 2% maltodextrin 6DE and
6% gum Arabic. It is in agreement with results of Moreira et al.
(2009).

3.3. Bulk density and solubility

Bulk density of the black mulberry powders varied from 0.35

to 0.55 g/mL. Increasing inlet air temperature caused a reduc-
tion in bulk density (Fig. 5) and an increase in the solubility Fig. 8 – Solubility of black mulberry powders containing
of spray-dried black mulberry powders (Fig. 6). There is an various carrier agents (8%), in different compressed air flow
inverse relation between the bulk density and solubility of rate and inlet air temperature of 130 ◦ C.
672 food and bioproducts processing 9 0 ( 2 0 1 2 ) 667–675
Fig. 9 – Micrographs of black mulberry powder particles produced with 8%: (a) maltodextrin 6DE, (b) maltodextrin 9DE, (c)
gum Arabic, and (d) maltodextrin 20DE at 130 ◦ C and 800 L/h conditions.
increasing inlet air temperature causes a decrease in solubil-
ity of orange and watermelon juice powder. They found at
very high inlet air temperature, a hard surface layer might
be formed over the powder particle. This could prevent water
molecules from diffusing through the particle. Consequently,
decreased the wettability of the particle and reduced the dis-
solution of the powder.
Bulk density shows a decrease with an increase in carrier
agent concentration (Fig. 5). This may be due to lower moisture
content of the products or the higher air trapped in the par-
ticles, as maltodextrin is a skin-forming material. Goula and
Adamopoulos (2010) reported similar results. Increased carrier
agent concentration causes an increase in powder solubility
(Fig. 6). This may be attributed to the fact that maltodextrin has
superior water solubility and is mainly used in process of spray
drying due to its physical properties, such as high solubility in
water (Cano-Chauca et al., 2005; Grabowski et al., 2006; Goula
and Adamopoulos, 2010). Increasing compressed air flow rate
causes an increase in powder bulk density (Fig. 7) and a reduc-
tion in solubility (Fig. 8). Increase in compressed air flow rate
causes a decrease in particle size (Goula and Adamopoulos,
2005b). Smaller particles produced with higher compressed air
rates are also denser and so further increase bulk density and
decrease solubility. This is in agreement with the results of
Goula and Adamopoulos (2005b) for spray drying of tomato
pulp.
The effect of different carrier agents on the powder bulk
density is shown in Fig. 7 and on the solubility of black mul-
berry powders is also shown in Fig. 8. The particles produced
with maltodextrin 6DE showed the lowest bulk density, fol-
lowed by those produced with gum Arabic and maltodextrin
9DE. The sample produced with maltodextrin 20DE showed
the highest bulk density. An increase in maltodextrin dextrose
equivalent leads to an increase in bulk density. This can be
attributed to the fact that the higher the maltodextrin DE, the
lower its glass transition temperature and, as a consequence,
the lower the Tg value is, the more stickier the mixture is
(Adhikari et al., 2004; Goula and Adamopoulos, 2010). Mal-
todextrin DE increases lead to a decrease in powder solubility.
The effect of maltodextrin DE on powder solubility depends on
its effect on powder moisture content. This can be attributed
to the fact that low-moisture content seems to be associated
with fast rehydration (Goula and Adamopoulos, 2008), since
the lower the moisture content the less sticky the powder is
and, thus, the higher will be the surface area in contact with
the rehydration water. The blend of 2% maltodextrin 6DE
and 6% gum Arabic show the highest solubility of about 87%.
By increasing percent replacement of maltodextrin by gum
Arabic, the water solubility was increased. Similar results
were reported by Moreira et al. (2009).
3.4. Microstructure and glass transition temperature
Fig. 9a–d shows the SEM micrographs of the 8% maltodextrin
(6, 9, and 20DE), and gum Arabic at inlet air temperature of
130 ◦ C and compressed air flow rate of 800 L/h. The micro-
graphs of the highest and lowest yield are also shown in Fig. 10.
In the microstructure of powders produced with maltodex-
trin 20DE, it was verified that particles were larger, amorphous,
all pilled up and with a strong attraction from each other
(Fig. 9d), while when the dextrose equivalent of maltodextrin
is decreased or by using gum Arabic, the particles tended to
become more spherical, more scattered. This can be explained
by the molecular structure of carrier agents. The average par-
ticle size of powders ranges from 4 to 13 ␮m (Table 2). Spray
dried black mulberry powders produced with maltodextrin
6DE has higher Tg point due to its larger molecule compar-
ing three other carriers (Table 2). The dextrose equivalency
of maltodextrin determines their reducing capacity and is
inversely related to their average molecular weight. Increase
in maltodextrin dextrose equivalent lead to lower powder Tg
 food and bioproducts processing 9 0 ( 2 0 1 2 ) 667–675 673

Fig. 10 – Micrographs of black mulberry powder particles produced with: (a) 6% maltodextrin 6DE and 2% gum Arabic at
130 ◦ C, 800 L/h conditions (Max yield), (b) 8% maltodextrin 20DE at 110 ◦ C, 400 L/h conditions (Min yield).

Fig. 11 – DSC profile for spray dried black mulberry juice powder produced with (a) 6% maltodextrin 6DE and 2% gum
Arabic, (b) 8% gum Arabic at 130 ◦ C and 800 L/h conditions.

Table 2 – Glass transition temperature (Tg ) and particle size of spray dried black mulberry juice powders containing
different carriers.
Composition of carriers in powder Inlet air Compressed Tg (◦ C) Particle size (␮m)
temperature air flow rate
(◦ C) (L/h)

8% maltodextrin 6DE 130 800 73.8 ± 1.2 5.06 ± 0.10

8% maltodextrin 9DE 130 800 65.7 ± 1 6.65 ± 0.15
8% gum Arabic 130 800 63.3 ± 1.1 7.2 ± 0.20
6% maltodextrin 6DE + 2% gum Arabic (Max yield) 130 800 76.4 ± 1.1 4.4 ± 0.08
8% maltodextrin 20DE (Min yield) 110 400 40.2 ± 1.2 12.35 ± 0.23

(Table 2) because lower molecular weight maltodextrins con-
tained shorter chains (Kasapis, 2005).
The Tg is the main characteristic transformation temper-
ature of the amorphous phase. The glass transition event
occurs when a hard, solid, amorphous sugar undergoes a
transformation to a soft, rubbery, liquid phase. The instru-
ment method used for the determination of Tg is differential
scanning calorimetry (DSC) that detects the change in heat
flow of the amorphous component between glass and rub-
bery states occurring over the transition temperature range.
The DSC technique was used to obtain heat flow versus tem-
perature thermograms (Fig. 11). Glass transition temperature
is observed as an endothermic stepwise change in the heat
flow (Jaya and Das, 2009). In this study the highest drying yield
and Tg point refers to the powder produced with the blend of
maltodextrin 6DE and gum Arabic. It is in agreement with the
results of Krishnan et al. (2005).
4. Conclusion
The effect of spray drying conditions, i.e. inlet air temperature,
compressed air flow rate, carrier agent concentration on black
mulberry powder drying yield, moisture content, water activ-
ity, bulk density, and solubility was studied. It was observed
that:
• Higher inlet air temperature causes an increase in process
yield and solubility and a decrease in bulk density, moisture
content and water activity.
• Increasing carrier agent concentration or decreasing mal-
todextrin DE causes an increase in drying yield and
solubility and a decrease in bulk density, moisture content,
and water activity.
• Increasing the compressed air flow rate has a positive effect
on drying yield and bulk density and a negative effect on
solubility, moisture content and water activity.
The results obtained in the present work indicate mal-
todextrin 6DE to be the best carrier agent for spray drying
of black mulberry juice as compared to the maltodextrin 9
and 20DE and gum Arabic. As far as the blends were con-
cerned, the blend of maltodextrin 6DE and gum Arabic proved
to be more efficient than the other blends even better than
100% maltodextrin 6DE. All the black mulberry juice powders
674 food and bioproducts processing 9 0 ( 2 0 1 2 ) 667–675

produced by spray drying with different carrier agents exhib- Goula, A.M., Adamopoulos, K.G., 2005a. Spray drying of tomato
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