Abstract

The aims of this work were to adjust different mathematical models to experimental data describing the drying of the Valiosa cultivar soybean grain, to determine and to evaluate the effective diffusion coefficient and to obtain the activation energy and the thermodynamic properties of the drying process under different air conditions. The Valiosa cultivar soybean grains, with an initial moisture content on a dry basis of 0.56 (d.b., decimal), were dried in an oven with forced air ventilation at five different temperatures (40, 55, 70, 85 and 100°C) until reaching a moisture content of 0.133 ± 0.019 (d.b.). Of the models analyzed, Page’s model was selected to best represent the drying phenomenon. The effective diffusion coefficient of soybeans increased with the air temperature and was described by the Arrhenius equation; an activation energy of 22.77 kJ mol^-1 was reported for liquid diffusion in the drying of the soybeans. The enthalpy and entropy decreased with increasing temperature, while the Gibbs free energy increased with increasing drying temperature.

Key words: Glycine max, liquid diffusivity, enthalpy, entropy, Gibbs free energy.