LWT - Food Science and Technology 143 (2021) 111092

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LWT
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/lwt

Evaluation of melon drying using hyperspectral imaging technique in the

near infrared region
Jose Marcelino S. Netto a, b, Fernanda A. Honorato a, *, Patrícia M. Azoubel a,
Louise E. Kurozawa c, Douglas F. Barbin c
a
Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Departamento de Engenharia Química, Av. Prof. Arthur de Sá, s/n, Cidade Universitária, Recife, PE, CEP 50740-521, Brazil
b
Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Laboratório de Metabonômica e Quimiometria, Av. Jornalista Anibal Fernandes, s/n Cidade Universitária, Recife, PE, CEP
50740-560, Brazil
c
Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Departamento de Engenharia de Alimentos, Rua Monteiro Lobato, 80, Cidade Universitária, Campinas, SP, CEP 13083-862, Brazil

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The evaluation of the melon drying process under different pretreatments using hyperspectral images in near
Drying infrared (HSI-NIR) is presented as a quick and non-destructive means. Hyperspectral images of melon slices (3.0
Melon cm × 3.0 cm x 0.3 cm) were obtained for different drying times. Principal Component Analysis applied to the
Near infrared
images of cross sections of the dried samples without pre-treatment indicated that the water evaporation
Partial Least-Square (PLS)
Hyperspectral imaging
occurred unidirectionally. PLS models were generated for each drying pretreatment condition according to the
moisture content based on their respective reference values. Prediction errors (RMSEP) obtained for these models
were 3.79; 3.69; 3.24 and 2.98% moisture content under the following conditions, respectively: no pretreatment,
ultrasound, vacuum, and the combination of vacuum and ultrasound. Chemical maps reveal that the use of
vacuum and the combination of vacuum and ultrasound result in uniform drying, corroborating the results
obtained by the drying kinetic curve, indicating that these pretreatments facilitate water diffusion in the samples.

1. Introduction encouraged, aiming at the optimization of process conditions as well as

There is a growing worldwide demand for the consumption of nat­
ural and healthy foods, which requires the development of new products
to meet current consumer preferences. Dehydrated or dried fruits and
vegetables appear as a convenient and viable way to meet these trends.
Dehydration facilitates conservation, protects against microorganisms,
reduces weight, makes the product available at any time of the year and
reduces post-harvest losses.
Dehydration or drying is a process in which the water that makes up
the food is eliminated by evaporation through heat and mass transfer. It
is a unit operation and one of the most traditional food preservation
techniques. This process is based on the elimination of moisture from a
material and is widely used in industry to prolong the shelf life of food
due to the reduction of water activity (Aguilera et al., 2003).
Drying processes can cause changes that affect the physical structure
of the product, compromising texture, appearance (shrinkage, cracking,
hardening), and chemical composition (loss of nutrients and compounds
that impart flavor and color) (Wojdylo et al., 2013). Thus, studies are
for the application of pre-treatments, such as ultrasound and vacuum, to
minimize such changes (Mujumdar & Law, 2010).
Wei et al. (2018) evaluated the effect of ultrasound, as a
pre-treatment, on quality attributes in dry bitter melon samples. In this
study, the authors observed that the use of ultrasound accelerated water
loss during drying processes, improved total phenolic retention and the
ability to rehydrate compared to untreated samples. Silva et al. (2016)
observed that when using ultrasound and vacuum combined as a pre­
treatment in melon samples, they obtained a soft texture, good color
preservation, and great acceptance in sensory evaluation. Cunha et al.
(2020) also evaluated the effect of pretreatments (ultrasound, vacuum,
ultrasound and vacuum combined and ethanol) on melon convective
drying. They found that treated samples dried faster than control sam­
ples, with minor losses of total phenolics, total carotenoids, and ascorbic
acid. This makes pretreatments an alternative to conventional drying
and applicable for industrial production. The quality of the final prod­
uct, however, is influenced by the moisture content and different drying
pretreatments can affect the drying rate. Thus, it becomes relevant to

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: fernanda.honorato@ufpe.br (F.A. Honorato).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2021.111092
Received 16 September 2020; Received in revised form 8 February 2021; Accepted 9 February 2021
Available online 12 February 2021
0023-6438/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
J.M.S. Netto et al.
have an estimate of the moisture content of the product during the
drying process.
Different techniques are available to determine moisture content
during the drying of food. They can be destructive or interruptive (pe­
riodic weighing) and non-destructive (load cells, IR-sensors) (Pu et al.,
2015). Measurement errors can also be found in the non-destructive
approaches which are used in industry to guarantee the quality and
safety of food product. The use of spectrometers to assess the moisture
content in drying processes is rendered ineffective due to its essentially
punctual measurement, making it impossible for this method to predict
the moisture if it is not uniformly distributed (Wu & Sun, 2013).
Near Infrared Hyperspectral Imaging (NIR-HSI) has become a ver­
satile analytical technique in the quality control of products and pro­
cesses (Cho et al., 2015; Elmasry et al., 2012). HSI is a fast, non-invasive
technique that analyses a large number of samples at the same time,
obtaining spatial and spectral information and displaying a spectrum
related to each pixel from the image. When the images are displayed on
a two-dimensional data matrix, they can be evaluated based on appro­
priate multivariate techniques in order to extract relevant information
that may not be evident in the image itself (Geladi et al., 2007, pp.
1–15). This requires techniques for dimensionality reduction, segmen­
tation, exploratory analysis, resolution, and compression, among others.
When obtaining spectral and spatial information, NIR-HSI has the
power to determine the characteristics of quality, as well as to generate
chemical maps for visualization of quality parameters in food. For
example, in a food drying process, the uniformity of the moisture con­
tent can be related to the efficiency of the drying technique (Huang
et al., 2015).
Previous work has demonstrated the effectiveness of using HSI to
evaluate drying processes. Pu and Sun (2015) obtained a chemical map
with the predicted moisture values of mango slices by using calibration
models to analyze the uniformity of the drying process. The results of the
chemical maps indicated that the drying was not uniform at the sample
corners.
Pu and Sun (2017) evaluated the uniformity of three drying condi­
tions (hot air, microwave vacuum and their combination) of mango
slices by visualizing the moisture content in the samples based on
hyperspectral images and PLS calibration. The study revealed that the
combination of these two types of drying produced a uniform drying;
under the separate conditions, higher moisture levels were observed in
the centers or tips.
In view of the above, this present work reports on the use of NIR-HSI
images to identify the pre-treatment (vacuum, ultrasound and combi­
nation of vacuum and ultrasound) that would contribute best to uniform
drying of melon slices (Cucumis melo L.), through moisture distribution
at different drying times. Melon is a refreshing vegetable, with a
pleasant aroma and flavor, has low energy value, is rich in minerals and
antioxidants, but has a very short shelf life at room temperature,
contributing to a high waste of this fruit (Costa, 2017). There are no
reports in the literature on the use of NIR-HSI to measure melon mois­
ture during the drying process with the purpose of assessing which
pretreatment achieves a more uniform moisture distribution.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Sample preparation
Five yellow melons (Cucumis melo L.) were purchased in the markets
of Campinas - SP - Brazil without showing any mechanical damage or
infection and in standard maturation stage (soluble solids content
around 10–14 ◦ Brix). The melons were washed with running water and
the skin and seeds were removed manually. The pulp was cut into square
slices (3.0 × 3.0 cm), 0.3 cm thick with the aid of a knife and a stainless-
steel cutter. About 58 square slices were obtained from each melon,
totaling 290 samples. Another sample (2.0 × 2.0 cm) and 10.0 cm long
was also obtained to evaluate the internal water diffusion during drying
2
LWT 143 (2021) 111092
process. The average initial moisture content of melon was determined
according to AOAC (2019).
2.2. Pre-treatment of melon slices
For the ultrasound pre-treatment (US), the samples (in triplicate)
were placed inside an Erlenmeyer flask and distilled water was added so
that the sample/distilled water ratio was 1:4 (Silva et al., 2016). Then,
the samples were taken to an ultrasonic bath (50 W), without mechan­
ical agitation and temperature adjusted to 30 ◦ C (±1 ◦ C) for 15 min. The
ultrasound frequency used was 40 kHz.
When using vacuum (VC), the samples were placed in an Erlenmeyer
flask and distilled water was added until reaching the sample/distilled
water ratio of 1: 4 (Silva et al., 2016). The pressure was then maintained
at − 700 mmHg during 15 min.
Regarding the treatment with the association of vacuum and ultra­
sound (VC + US), the samples (in triplicate) were also maintained in the
ultrasonic bath for the same amount of time (15 min) and simulta­
neously subjected to ultrasound and vacuum treatment.
2.3. Drying procedure
The samples were dried in a stainless steel fixed bed dryer, located at
the Laboratory of Food Innovation (Campinas, Brazil). The air velocity
used was set to 2.5 m/s and the drying temperature was 60 ◦ C. Samples
were weighed on a scale at fixed intervals of 15 min for the first 60 min
and at 30 min intervals after 60 min, until dynamic equilibrium was
reached (constant weight).
The drying kinetics study was performed using the data of the
dimensionless moisture ratio (MR) (Eq. (1)), as a function of the drying
time:
MR = Xt − Xe/Xo − Xe (1)
where Xt, Xe, and Xo represent the moisture content (g/g dry solids) of
melon slices at time t, the equilibrium moisture content and the initial
moisture content, respectively.
The relationship between moisture ratio (MR) and drying time (t) has
been previously established by several studies (as shown in Table 1), to
investigate the drying kinetics. In this study, six models were employed
to fit the experimental data.
The diffusional model (Eq. (2)) was used to calculate the effective
diffusivity (Def). In this case, drying by the two faces of an infinite flat
plate, 2 L thick exposed to the same constant atmospheric conditions
was studied, neglecting the shrinkage of the material during drying and
the external resistance to the mass transport. In addition, uniform initial
moisture content was considered (Crank, 1975).
[ ]
Xt − Xe 8 ∑ ∞
1 t
= 2 exp − (2i + 1)2 2
π D ef 2 (2)
Xo − Xe π i=0 (2i + 1)2 4l
The relative average error (P) (Eq. (3)) was calculated to verify the fit
of the models, with %P values less than 10%, thus adequate for pre­
diction (Lomauro et al., 1985):
⃒ ⃒
100 ∑ ⃒Vp − Ve ⃒
P= (3)
N Vp
where Vp, Ve and N are the values predicted by the model, values ob­
tained experimentally and number of experimental points, respectively.
2.4. Acquisition of hyperspectral images in the NIR and calibration
Hyperspectral images of sides of the melon slices in direct contact
with hot air during the drying process were obtained for the three
proposed pre-treatment conditions (US, VC and VC + US) and without
any pre-treatment (WPT), at times of 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, 150, 180
J.M.S. Netto et al. LWT 143 (2021) 111092

Table 1
Statistical results from thin-layer drying models in fitting the melon drying process.
Model Name Equation Reference Pre-treatment R2 P (%)

Exponential AD = exp( − kt) Abe & Afzal (1997) WPT 0.994 5323
US 0.998 1501
VC 0.998 1490
VC + US 0.999 1426

Page AD = exp( − ktv ) Karathanos & Belessiotis (1999) WPT 0.999 30

US 0.999 21
VC 0.999 25
VC + US 0.999 21

Henderson e Pabis AD = α exp( − kt) Henderson & Pabis (1961) WPT 0.994 1072
US 0.998 1238
VC 0.998 1189
VC + US 0.999 1139

Logaritmic AD = α exp( − kt) + c Yaldiz, Ertekin, & Uzun (2001) WPT 0.973 9395
US 0.984 105
VC 0.992 104
VC + US 0.993 106

Two-term Exponential AD = α exp( − k0 t) + b exp( − k1 t) Ozdemir & Devres (1999) WPT 0.999 6.17
US 0.999 6.58
VC 0.999 1.92
VC + US 0.999 8.28

Wang and Singh AD = 1 + at + bt2 Wang & Singh (1978) WPT 0.508 >10,000
US 0.401 >10,000
VC 0.241 >10,000
VC + US 0.218 >10,000

and 210 min after drying, totaling forty images. Hyperspectral images
were obtained using a Spectral CameraSwir (Specim, SisuChema -
Finland) located at the Institute of Chemistry, UNICAMP/SP/BRAZIL.
The equipment operates in the spectral range of 1000–2500 nm and at a
resolution of 10 nm.
The calibration and prediction sets were formed from medium
spectra of five spatial areas, obtained from hyperspectral images.
Different spatial areas (center and close to the four edges), of the melon
slices, were chosen in order to attain representative information about
the composition. Each of the five spectra represented the average spectra
of a 6 × 6 mm area of the melon slice. The calibration set consisted of
images obtained at different drying times (0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120,
150, 180 and 210 min). A different set of hyperspectral images were
obtained for different samples of melon at the drying times 0, 10, 15, 30,
50, 90, 150 and 210 min in order to build the prediction set. The
different times 10 and 50 min were added to the prediction set in order
to evaluate the method robustness, as well as to include more samples
before completing the drying time.
In order to eliminate or minimize irrelevant information in the
spectra, different pre-processing techniques (standard normal variation -
SNV, derived by filters Savitzky-Golay, multiplicative scatter correction
– MSC, and smoothing) were evaluated. PLS (Partial Least Squares)
models for quantifying the moisture content in the dry melon slices were
calculated. The quality of the PLS models obtained with different pre-
processing was evaluated according to the coefficient of determination
(R2), RMSECV and RMSEP, taking as a reference the moisture values
obtained through the reference method.
2.5. Generation of chemical maps for moisture content
During image analysis, dead pixels or non-reproducible wavelengths
were initially eliminated. The hyperspectral cubes generated by NIR-HIS
were unfolded in a two-dimensional matrix D, where the pixels of the
image are the lines and the wavelengths are the columns. Then, the PLS
model was applied to the matrix to obtain distribution maps that pro­
vided information about the distribution and the relative moisture in the
image at each pixel point.
Background removal and selection of the region of interest (ROI)
were obtained through PCA analysis. For this, the image of each slice of
melon was individually subjected to a PCA analysis. From the loading
plot of the individual images, the wavelength related to the maximum
difference between the piece of melon and the bottom was identified.
Therefore, a limit was established for each image to eliminate the
background and maintain the ROI. In addition, PCA made it possible to
evaluate the water diffusion process. The diffusion process was evalu­
ated using images of melon samples with different dimensions. One
sample was 3.0 × 3.0 × 0.3 cm, that remained 90 min in the dryer; the
second, which was a cross section of a sample of dimensions 2.0 × 2.0 ×
10.0 cm, was examined after spending 210 min in the dryer. Both
without any pre-treatment.
Subsequently, the PLS models calculated were applied to the images
without the background to generate a color map to indicate the uni­
formity of moisture throughout the drying process.
Background removal was performed using Hypertools (Amigo and
Mobaraki, 2017). The PLS calculations were performed in PLS-ToolBox
5.2. For the color calculations of the maps, Matlab® 2010a was used.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Drying kinetics of melon slices
Fig. 1a shows the drying curves of the samples under the proposed
drying conditions. It is possible to observe that the four drying condi­
tions used had differences in drying rates. All the pre-treatments used
increased these drying rates and reduced the drying time. This can be
attributed to phenomenon of “sponge effect”, contributing to the
reduction of process costs when compared to the conventional drying
process (Bhargava et al., 2020). The water diffusion from the interior to
the surface of the product is improved due to new microchannels formed
by intracellular and extracellular cavitation of water (Ye, 2016).
Melon slices without pretreatment took 120 min to reach 15%
moisture. On the other hand, 81 min, 77 min and 71 min were required
for samples pretreated with ultrasound (US), vacuum (VC) and the
combination of vacuum with ultrasound (VC + US), respectively.

3
J.M.S. Netto et al.
Fig. 1. (a) Drying rates (dX/dt) in function of dry mass (X) according to each pre-treatment used: US, VC, VC + US. (b) Modeling performed by Two-terms
exponential for drying without pre-treatment (WPT) and US, VC and VC + US as pre-treatment used. *MR = Moisture Ratio.
The parameters of the six thin-layer drying models, with respective
R2 and P values are listed in Table 1. It can be observed that the Wang
and Singh model did not obtain a good fit to the experimental data,
whereas the other models used obtained satisfactory results of R2.
However, the two-term exponential model provided the best fit
regarding the results obtained, as it achieved a %P value below 10%
(Fig. 1b). Silva et al. (2016) also obtained a better fit for the experi­
mental data using exponential modeling of two terms in the evaluation
of the melon quality parameters after hot air drying when using VC and
US as pre-treatments.
3.2. Spectral analysis of melons slices submitted to drying
Fig. 2a shows the raw spectra (Wavelength (nm) x log 1/R) obtained
from the average of the spectra contained in the hyperspectral images
for each drying time of the melon slices without pre-treatment. In these
spectra, deviations from the baseline can be observed, probably due to
light scattering. After the spectra were tested with different pre-
processing techniques, it was found that SNV was the one that best
corrected this effect (Fig. 2b).
A peak was observed around 1400–1500 nm and 1932 nm, attributed
to the vibrational transitions of the first overtones of OH bond of water
(Stuart, 2004). In the spectra pre-processed with SNV (Fig. 2b) it is
possible to observe the decrease in absorption intensities in this region,
Fig. 2. (a) Raw spectra and (b) spectra pre-processed with SNV obtained through the drying process of melon samples as a function of the time of the samples in
the dryer.
4
LWT 143 (2021) 111092
indicating the loss of water during the drying process.
3.3. Water diffusion process by PCA
Fig. 3 shows the scores (Fig. 3a) and loadings (Fig. 3b) of PC1 and
PC2 obtained from images of two melon samples with dimensions: (I)
3.0 × 3.0 × 0.3 cm, dried for 90 min; and (II) 2.0 × 2.0 × 10.0 cm dried
for 210 min.
PC1 explains 86.5% of the data variance and presents high scores
(red in the color bar) related to high water content. These values are
reflected in the loadings of PC1 (blue line), which have expressive values
in the spectral region related to water information (bands around 1400
nm and 1900 nm).
In PC1, the sample image scores (I) have low values, because as the
sample is dried, the water in is composition is reduced. In addition, as
there are no regions with different scores values, it can be suggested that
the drying occurred uniformly (completely blue image). This suggests
that the water evaporation occurred in a unidirectional manner (parallel
to the direction of the hot air from the dryer) throughout the entire
sample. When this transport phenomenon occurs, it can be inferred that
the sample behaves like an infinite flat plate (the length and width are
greater than the thickness, the axis where the diffusion will occur).
PC1 scores for image (II) show that the water content is higher in the
center of the sample. Therefore, it is possible to say that water
J.M.S. Netto et al.
Fig. 3. Values of scores (a) and loadings (b) obtained by PC1 and PC2 for two melon samples in different dimensions and drying times - sample I: 3 cm × 3 cm x 0.3
cm and 90 min; sample II: 2.0 cm × 2.0 cm x 10.0 cm and 210 min.
evaporation occurs radially, that is, water can diffuse through any axis.
Thus, this sample behaves like a flat plate, as there is a moisture gradient
across the sample surface.
Similarly, PC2 contributes to confirm the uniformity of drying in the
sample (I) as an infinite flat plate, and non-uniformity in the sample (II)
that behaves like a flat plate, where PC2 loadings relate to the distri­
bution of water in the sample.
3.4. PLS models
PLS is the major regression technique for multivariate data and an
important tool when there is partial knowledge of the data. The PLS
models are simple and efficient for spectroscopic data where there are
highly correlated variables (Andersson, 2009; Brereton, 2003).
PLS models were obtained considering the vector y as a single
moisture value at each drying time, since the samples resembled an
infinite flat plate. The PLS models obtained for the different pre-
treatments applied before drying (Fig. 4) made it possible to verify
that all models generated could predict the moisture content of the dried
melon samples with considerable accuracy.
Fig. 4 also contains the figures of merit obtained for calibration
models under each drying condition. It can be seen that the results of
RMSEP and R2 calculated for the four models obtained are similar.
However, when using VA and VA + US, smaller errors in calibration
5
LWT 143 (2021) 111092
(RMSEC), cross-validation (RMSECV) and prediction (RMSEP) were
observed. These results are comparable to the results obtained by Pu and
Sun (2016) in predicting the moisture of mango slices after going
through the microwave drying process (R2 of 0.972 and RMSEP of
4.611% for moisture content).
The regression coefficients of all PLS models have the most signifi­
cant values in the regions around 1190 nm and 1940 nm associated with
the combination bands of water (Curcio & Petty, 1951). These regression
coefficients confirm that the models are adequate and can be applied to
the images to generate the chemical moisture maps for each drying
condition analyzed.
3.5. Visualization of water content uniformity
The loading plot obtained of the PCA analysis applied to the images
of each melon slice showed that the 1097 nm wavelength was related to
the maximum difference between the melon slice and the background.
Thus, from the limit defined for each image, the background was elim­
inated and the ROI maintained.
The best PLS model for moisture content was applied to each pixel of
the hyperspectral image, enabling the construction of chemical maps to
show moisture distribution throughout the image. In order to assess
which drying condition achieved more uniform water evaporation,
chemical maps of the moisture distribution were constructed according
J.M.S. Netto et al. LWT 143 (2021) 111092

Fig. 4. Graph of predicted x measured values of moisture content for the different pretreatments used: (a) without any pre-treatment (WPT); (b) ultrasound (US); (c)
vacuum (VC) and (d) vacuum and ultrasound (VC + US). In black, the calibration samples and red, the prediction samples. (For interpretation of the references to
color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)

to the time and type of pre-treatment used and compared with each
other.
Fig. 5 shows some moisture distribution maps according to the time
interval and type of pre-treatment used, as well as the content values
predicted by the PLS model. It is not possible to verify a significant
difference between the moisture values predicted by the calibration
model and the pre-treatment conditions used. However, it is possible to
assess how uniform the drying was over time.
After 15 min of drying, in which a higher evaporation rate was
observed, the moisture content profile was most uniform on the surface
of the samples pretreated by VC and VC + US. For example, even if the
values predicted when using US and VC are similar, in this second case,

Fig. 5. Comparison between the chemical maps in function of drying time without pretreatment and types of pre-treatment used: US, VC and VC + US for the
melon samples.

6
J.M.S. Netto et al.
the moisture content was more evenly distributed.
Regardless of the type of pre-treatment used, moisture content of all
samples was less than 25% after 90 min of drying (Brasil Agência
Nacional da Vigilância Sanitária - ANVISA, 2005) and regions with
concentrated moisture were not observed. The chemical maps of the
melon slices show that the use of VA and VA + US promotes better
uniformity of drying process, corroborating with the results obtained by
the kinetic drying curves. This is because these pre-treatments increase
the water evaporation rate and facilitate the diffusion of water inside the
samples. A time and cost analysis, however, indicates that only the
vacuum drying process would be the best alternative, as it is a more
economical and less laborious process.
4. Conclusion
In this study, NIR-HSI was used to assess how pretreatments (VC, US,
and VC + US) influence the moisture distribution in the drying of melon
slices. The kinetic study showed that pretreatments reduce drying times,
with the VC + US association being the one that promoted the greatest
reduction (40%) when compared to drying without pretreatment.
The PCA applied to the images of a melon slice and the cross section
of another fruit sample, both dry, revealed that the water diffusion can
occur both unidirectionally (infinite flat plate) and radially (flat plate),
respectively. When water diffusion occurs unidirectionally, drying oc­
curs uniformly, without localized water concentration. For radial dry­
ing, diffusion occurs in any direction, with water concentrated in the
center of the sample.
The PLS calibration models developed for the four drying conditions
of the melon slices obtained acceptable RMSEP since the melon is a fruit
with a variable and complex matrix. The PLS model with the best per­
formance applied to each pixel of the images made it possible to obtain
chemical maps for each pretreatment at different drying times. The
evaluation of the HSI images showed that vacuum and the combination
of vacuum and ultrasound techniques presented a uniform drying model
on the entire sample surface and corroborated the results also obtained
in the kinetic study of drying. Between the vacuum and the combination
of vacuum and ultrasound, however, the use of vacuum only becomes
more attractive from an operational and economic point of view. The
results obtained suggest that hyperspectral images in the near infrared
region are promising in the evaluation of the fruit drying process.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Jose Marcelino S. Netto: Conceptualization, Methodology, Soft­
ware, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Data curation, Writing
- original draft, Visualization. Fernanda A. Honorato: Conceptualiza­
tion, Methodology, Validation, Formal analysis, Resources, Writing -
original draft, Writing - review & editing, Supervision, Project admin­
istration, Funding acquisition. Patrícia M. Azoubel: Conceptualization,
Methodology, Writing - original draft, Formal analysis, Investigation.
Louise E. Kurozawa: Methodology, Validation, Resources, Writing -
original draft, Supervision. Douglas F. Barbin: Investigation, Method­
ology, Formal analysis, Writing - original draft, Supervision.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge LAC/UFPE, FEA/UNICAMP, IQ/
UNICAMP and NUQAAPE/FACEPE/CNPq (Process APQ-0346-1.06/14),
INCTAA/CNPq (INCT Proc. CNPq No. 465768/2014-8 – MCTI/CNPq/
CAPES/FAPs nº 16/2014), FACEPE (Process APQ 0490-3.06/14, PPP/
FACEPE/CNPq Nº 09/2014), FAPESP (Project number 2015/24351-2)
for their financial support. This study was financed in part by the
7
LWT 143 (2021) 111092
Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brasil
(CAPES) – Finance Code 001. The English version was revised by Sidney
Pratt, Canadian, BA, MAT (The Johns Hopkins University), RSAdip
(TEFL) (Cambridge University).
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