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Spray-drying instant coffee product at low temperature

Conference Paper · January 1995

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 SPRAY-DRYING INSTANT COFFEE PRODUCT
AT LOW TEMPERATURE

N. OHTANI *, K. TAKAHASHI *, Y. TAMURA *, M. TOMITA*, M. TAKAHASHI **, D. G. BASSOLI***, A. P.

SUMI***, Y. AKASHI***, A. S. DE CASTRO***
* Morinaga Milk Industry Co. Ltd., Japan
** Morinaga Engineering Co. Ltd., Japan
*** CIA Iguaçu De Café Soluvel, Brazil

1 . INTRODUCTION

Instant coffee is made by processing coffee beans throu-

gh the following steps: roasting, grinding, extraction,
concentration, drying and packing. Of all characteristi-
cs that coffee possesses, perhaps its most appealing
attribute is the rich coffee aroma. Evaporation that
takes place during the production of instant coffee
significantly dissipates this rich aroma.
Freeze drying and spray drying are the most frequently
used methods for producing instant coffee. Many manufac-
turers use a freeze drying process because it is thought
that such a process reduces the changes in aroma charac-
teristics normally caused by heat and oxidation. However,
the long vacuum time required for this process leads to
a relatively substantial loss of aroma. In addition,
milling and sifting must occur at low temperatures and
drying requires several hours.
As these processes require a considerable investment in
equipment and energy, the finished product becomes
rather expensive.

The spray drying process, on the other hand, can be

accomplished with relatively simple equipment. This
process permits large scale production with lower costs
and results in a product with low density and good flow-
ability. However, usual spray drying temperatures of 200

ASIC, 16e Colloque, Kyoto, 1995 447

 -300°C cause aroma loss and impart a caramel flavor to
the product.
Low temperature spray drying was attempted using a sing-
le nozzle system which permits considerable control over
the temperature and volume of hot air entering the dryi-
ng chamber. With this system it was possible to increase
the initial drying rate for sprayed droplets that passed
through the single nozzle and to cool down the dried
particles in the bottom of the drying chamber. As a
result, aroma retention was about twice that of the high
temperature spray drying process. Also, aroma retention
was greater than that of the freeze drying process.
These results were published in ASIC(l).

Further, it has been reported from experimentation with

the use of maltodextrine that greater aroma retention
can be achieved by a 40% increase in solids concentrati-
on (2-7). A common method to increase the level of
solids prior to drying is vacuum thermal concentration,
which causes loss of aroma(8) .
In recent years, attempts have been made to use a freeze
concentration method.
Compared with vacuum thermal concentration, this method
allows an increase in solids to be achieved with barely
any aroma loss. Because of its advantages, the freeze
concentration method is being used more frequently as a
part of the process tö produce instant coffee. However,
with the increase in solids there is also an increase in
viscosity. Therefore it becomes difficult to separate
ice particles from the concentrate and the extent to
which solids concentration can be achieved becomes limi-
ted (9) . This paper investigates the changes in aroma
retention and density of instant coffee produced by low
temperature extraction, freeze concentration and low
temperture spray drying.

2. Method and Material

2.1 Materials
Figure 1 shows a flow-diagram of instant coffee product-
ion. A blend of Arabica (70%) and Robusta (30%) was
roasted, ground and extracted according to current indu-
strial standards. The resulting extract was divided into
two parts. One part was freeze concentrated (T.S. 30, 43
%) and spray dried at low temperature ( 1 20, 1 40, 160,or 18

448
 Technologie

0°C) . The other part was thermally concentrated (T.S. 43%)

Fig-1 Flow-diagram of Instant Coffee Production

GRANULATION

THERMAL
CONCENTRATION

LOW TEHPRATURE
SPRAY DRYING SYSTEM

FREEZE
CONCENTRATION

2.2 Analytical Methods

A. Analysis of aroma

Coffee extract or powder was analyzed for volatile aroma,

either by adsorption onto TENAX or by purge and trap
techniques, using gas chromatography oven conditions of
35°C initially, increasing at 3°C/min to 220°C.

B. Analysis of Density

Density was measured by the a tapping method (precisely

200ml of powder was measured by filling a stainless tub
ediameter 5.5cm, length 8.4cm -with powder through a
funnel, tapping the tube 120 times then removing any
excess powder with a leveling device.)

3. Results and Discussion

3.1.Comparison of the Effect of Concentration Method on

Aroma Retention

A comparison of the aroma retention after thermal conce-

ntration (T.S. 43%) and freeze concentration (T.S. 30%)
was conducted.

449
 With freeze concentration, viscosity rose as the level
of solids increased and the separability of ice particl-
es and extract decreased. As a result, the extent to
which solids could be concentrated was limited. Two
types of concentrate were examined by gas chromatography
with TENAX to compare the retention of aroma in each
type of concentrate. Figure 2 shows the retention of
aroma using the extract as an index (equal to 100%) .
Using the thermal concentration method the aroma retain-
ed was only 39%. That is, about 60% of the aroma was
lost in this process. With freeze concentration, in
contrast, 86% of the aroma was retained. The results
indicate that freeze concentration is an effective means
to reduce moisture content prior to the drying process.

Fig-2 Comparison of aroma retention at different

concentration method
Aroma retention
20 40 60 80 100 <%>

Original extract

Freeze concentrated
extract (T.S. 30%)

Thermal concentrated
extract (T.S. 43%)

However, with the freeze concentration method , loss of

aroma during the drying process is likely to occur
because of the low solids content. Therefore methods
aimed to increase the solids concentration were investi-
gated. Figure 3 shows the relationship between solids
concentration and viscosity. Using conventional extract-
ion methods viscosity rises rapidly when the solids
concentration reaches about 30%. Here, extraction was
conducted at low temperature to suppress hydrolysis
which causes the rise in viscosity during extraction.
Under the conditions employed the viscosity rose slowly
and a concentration of 43% could be achieved.

450
 Technologie

Fig-3 Relationship between viscosity and

concentration in extraction method
100

low temp extract

80 regular extract

60 r

o 40 -

20

10 20 30 40 50 60
Concentration (JS. Î5)

Figure 4 shows the aroma retention achieved when the

total solids was 43%. There was no significant differen-
ce in aroma retention between the low level concentrate
of T.S. 30% and the concentrate of T.S. 43% produced by
freeze concentration.

Fig-4 Aroma retention at different

freeze concentration
Aroma retention
0 20 40 60 80 100 (%

Low i.empe rature

extract

Freeze c o n c e n t r a t e d
extract ( T. S. 3 0 % )

Freeze c o n c e n t r a t e d
extract ( T. S. 4 3 % )

451
 3.2.Comparison of Aroma Retention at Different Levels of
Concentration after Low Temperature Spray Drying

A comparison was made of the aroma retention of two

freeze concentrates (T.S. 30% and T.S. 43%) produced by
low temperature spray drying (hot air temperature 140°C) .
These results are shown in Figure 5. The overall retent-
ion of aroma (total sum of peak areas) is shown on the
left. It is evident that the retention of low boiling
point aroma increases as the solids concentration incre-
ases. The reason for this is that as the solids concent-
ration decreases, the powder particles become smaller
and more particles are brought into the cyclones causing
aroma loss. The loss of aroma, however, is counteracted
by the more rapid formation of a dry skin around the
droplets of a higher concentration.

Fig-5 Comparison of aroma retention at different

levels of concentration after low temperatire
spray drying.
Aroma retention Aroma retention
(%) 100 80 SO 40 20 0 0 20 ¿0 SO 80 100 (%)
i i i i i i

Freeze ccr.csn.traisi
extract

Bot air tap. 140 t

as &)
[fat air tern 140 I
a s 300
mois. 3% mois. ; %

Overall aroma Low boiling

point volatiles

3.3.Comparison of Aroma Retention at Different Hot Air

Temperatures

A comparison was made of aroma retention after spray

drying of a freeze concentrated extract (T.S. 43%) at
temperatures of 120,140,160 and 180°C. The retention of
aroma is shown in Figure 6. An index of 100 is used to
represent the freeze concentrated extract. It is evident
that aroma retention decreased as the temperature
increased.

452
 Technologie

Fig-6 Effect of hot air temperature

on aroma retention
Aroma retention
0 ZO 40 60 80 100 (%)
j L

Freeze concentrated
extract

Q_ 120°C
£
OJ

140'C

o 160°C

180'C
m o i s . 3°A

3.4.Controllability of Density in the Low Temperature

Spray Drying Method

The controllability of density, a critical characterist-

ic of instant coffee, was investigated. Figure 7 shows
the change in density under varying temperature conditi-
ons using the low temperature spray drying method.

Fig-7 Relationship between density and hot air

temperature in spray drying
(g/ 1) o T. S. 4 3%
320 - o
\
o
300 - O o"
\. o
>-
280 -
Dens

260 -
O N.
240 -
o \o
220 -
o
200 -

—•[ i ( I ¡ i •

120 140 160 180 (

Hot air temp.
453
 Results indicate that the lower the air temperature,
the higher the density became, so it is thought that air
temperature has a significant impact on the density.
Generally it is believed that when the diameter of the
droplets is small and the hot air temperature is high
the density of the powder will decrease. This was repor-
ted by Greenwood and King (10) in their report which
would indicate that when the diameter of the droplets is
small,the rise in temperature of the droplets is great,
thereby promoting droplet expansion.
By lowering the air temperature and increasing the air
flow, drying time for the low temperature drying method
can be shortened in order to obtain better aroma retent-
ion. When this is done the spray particle is dried
before full expansion occurs. However, as previously
stated a higher air temperature affects aroma retention.
Figure 8 shows the results of spray drying coffee extra-
ct in which CO2 has been dissolved. The results indicate
that during low temperature spray drying, even when
droplets have not fully expanded, density can be contro-
lled by increasing the amount of CO2 added to the
extract.

Fig-8 Relationship between density and CO2 gas

at air temperature of 140 X,

c o- g a s
( I / k g — p o w d e r )

The effect of addition of CO2 on aroma retention is

shown in Figure 9. While density was maintained at a
normal level, the addition of CO 2 gas had no si
impact on aroma retention.

454
 Technologie

Fig-9 Influence of the addition of C0 ;

on aroma retention
Aroma retention

0 20 40 60 80 100
L_ L_ i
Freeze
concentrated
extract
CO, gas
0 I /kg-powder
COi gas
2 I /kg-powder
CO2 gas
4 I /kg-powder

gas Hot air temp.

6 I /kg-powder 140°C

4 .Conclusions

1) W h e n e x t r a c t i o n of c o f f e e b e a n s is d o n e at l o w
temperature, with further processing by freeze concentr-
ation and low t e m p e r a t u r e spray d r y i n g , the resulting
coffee powder closely resembles the original extract.

2) P o w d e r o b t a i n e d by s p r a y d r y i n g at a h i g h e r concent-
r a t i o n of s o l i d s s h o w s b e t t e r a r o m a retention.

3) It is p o s s i b l e to c o n t r o l t h e d e n s i t y of c o f f e e
p o w d e r by t h e a d d i t i o n of CO2 to t h e e x t r a c t p r i o r to
low t e m p e r a t u r e s p r a y d r y i n g . T h e u s e of C O 2 h a s no
s i g n i f i c a n t i n f l u e n c e on a r o m a r e t e n t i o n of t h e c o f f e e .

455
 References :

( 1 ) Tomita .M, Ohtani . N, A. S .De Castro et al. .-ASIC,15 e

Colloque, Montpellier, Vol2 p.712-718(1993)
(2)Thijssen,H.A.C et al. : De Ingenieurs,80,Ch 45(1968)
(3)Kerkhof,P.J.A.M.:Adv.Preconcentration and Dehydration
of Foods, Applied Sei. Pub.,London,p.349(1974)
(4)Menting et. :J.Food Sei. , 32 , 87 ( 1 967)
(5)Rulken et al. :J.Food Technology. ,7, ( 1 972)
(6)Furuta.T,Tujimoto,S et al.¡Drying Technology,2(3),311
-327 ( 1983-84)
(7)Coumans,W.J.,Kerkhof,P.J.A.M.and Bruin,S.:Drying Tec-
hnology, 12(162) ,99-149 (1994)
(8)Keiso Fukutani,Takashi Sumida :Syokuhin Kakou gijyutu,
vol-9 (3) , 24-29 (1989)
(9)Vanpelet,W.H.J.M. ,Bassoli,D.G . :Cafe Cacao The,vol.
XXXIV, ni, janv-mars p. 37-45 (1990)
( 10)Greenwald,C.G. and King, J.Food.Proc.Eng. ,4 , 171 ( 1 98 1

SUMMARY

The effect of spraying at higher solids concentration on

aroma retention in powder is reported.
An advantage of freeze concentration is that little loss
of volatile components occurs, but compared with evapor-
ation, the extent of concentration achieved is limited
because of viscosity. In order to achieve a higher conc-
entration of solids with the freeze concentration method,
low temperature extraction was applied. The powder
obtained by spray drying at higher concentration of
solids showed better aroma retention.
Also, we have investigated means to control the density
of powder produced using this low temperature hot air
spray drying system. As the hot air temperature was dec-
reased, the density increased. The powder density could
be controlled by injection of CO 2 gas into the concentr-
ated extract. This treatment did not adversely affect
aroma retention.

456

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