Spray drying of sumac flavour using sodium chloride, sucrose, glucose and starch as carriers

Sumac flavour, obtained by an aqueous extraction of sumac berries, was spray dried using several carriers (sodium chloride, sucrose, glucose and starch). Among the carriers tested, only sodium chloride was observed to be appropriate under the conditions of the spray-dryer used for the spray drying. Sucrose and glucose adhered on the surface of the spray dryer due to caramelization. Starch caused problem such as clogging the nozzle due to its heterogeneous form. The proportion of the carrier to core material (the sumac flavour) was fixed as 4:1 g/g for all samples. The soluble solids content in the solution before the spray drying operation were 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25%. In the solution and the powder, absorbance at 510 nm, acidity and pH were measured and percent retention was determined. The percent retention of flavour was calculated both spectrophotometrically and by the acidity of the sample. The experimental data were also simulated through curve fitting. The results were analysed using statistical method (p = 0.05). Depending on the carriers used, percent retention of the flavour was calculated in the range of 7–13% when the calculation was based on the spectrophotometric method and in the range of 18–65% when the acidity method was used. Both absorbance and acidity values in the solution and the powder increased with increase in soluble solids content.