Abstract :
The equilibrium moisture contents of chickpea seeds were determined using the gravimetric static method at 5°C, 20°C, 40°C and 60°C over a range of water activities from 0.110 to 0.877. The sorption capacity of seeds decreased with the increase in temperature at constant water activity. Six models, modified Chung–Pfost, modified Halsey, modified Oswin, modified Henderson, Guggenheim–Anderson–de Boer (GAB), and a new Fraction–linear (FL), were applied to analyze the experimental data. The FL model was found to be the most suitable for describing the sorption data. For practical considerations a single monolayer value (in water activity (aW) range 0.16–0.18) can be assumed.
