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Journal of Food Engineering 87 (2008) 416–421

www.elsevier.com/locate/jfoodeng

A new method of producing date powder granules:

Physicochemical characteristics of powder
Shyam S. Sablani a,*, Ashok K. Shrestha c, Bhesh R. Bhandari b
a
Department of Biological Systems Engineering, Washington State University, P.O. Box 646120, Pullman, WA 99164-6120, United States
b
School of Land, Crop and Food Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia
c
Centre for Nutrition and Food Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia

Received 26 October 2007; received in revised form 21 December 2007; accepted 26 December 2007
Available online 8 January 2008

Abstract

A mixing technique was developed to produce free flowing powder granules from date. This method involved preparation of the paste
from raw date, mixing with maltodextrin powder followed by an oven drying. In order to determine an optimum proportion of date paste
and maltodextrin (DE 6) to produce stable granules, mixing was carried out at various levels of maltodextrin (MD) ranging between
0.54 kg and 1.0 kg per kg of date paste (dry weight basis). The date paste dried with 1.0 kg of maltodextrin/1.0 kg of date paste produced
non sticky and free flowing powder. Several physicochemical parameters such as water activity, bulk density, color, hygroscopicity and
glass transition temperatures of date powders were measured. The caking of date powders during storage at room temperature was
explained using the concept of glass transition temperature.
Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Bulk density; Color; Differential scanning calorimeter; Date paste; Thermal mechanical compression test; Hygroscopicity; Glass transition
temperature; Water activity

1. Introduction alternative uses of low quality dates such as date syrup,

jam, bar, vinegar etc. This study attempted to produce a
The date palm, Phoenix dactylifera, is one of most powder from date paste by a novel but simple technique.
important plants of arid, desert area of the Middle East, The date powders can be used in confectionary, bakery
Southern Asia and Northern Africa for over 5000 years. and ice creams.
The commercial production of dates in the USA started One of the challenges of producing fruit powders is to
in late 19th and early 20th century and is still an important reduce stickiness during drying and safe handling and stor-
component of desert agriculture in Southern California age of the powder (Bhandari et al., 1997a; Jaya et al., 2006).
and Arizona (Hodel and Pittenger, 2003). In some Middle The stickiness in fruit powders is mainly due to the presence
East countries like Oman, date palm trees occupy about of low molecular weight sugars, such as fructose, glucose,
82.6% (35,000 ha) of the total fruit area and contributes sucrose and some organic acids in the fruit. The date is also
significantly to agricultural export. The date fruit is non cli- comprised of these sugars. These sugars and organic acids
macteric fleshy fruit. Date solids mostly consist of fructose are very hygroscopic in their amorphous state and have
and glucose and a small quantity of dietary fiber. Most of low glass transition temperature (Roos, 1995; Roos and
the premium quality dates are either consumed fresh or in Karel, 1991a,b). A relatively mild spray drying condition
ripened form. Several efforts have been made to identify (Tinlet = 150–180 °C) or conventional air/vacuum drying
(60–80 °C) methods are employed to produce dried fruit
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 509 335 7745; fax: +1 509 335 2722. powders. Under such drying temperatures the atomized par-
E-mail address: [email protected] (S.S. Sablani). ticles undergoing drying tend to stick at the bottom or walls

0260-8774/$ - see front matter Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2007.12.024
 S.S. Sablani et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 87 (2008) 416–421 417

of the dryer and produce a paste like material instead of ture content and water activity of fresh dates were 20.2%
powder (Bhandari et al., 1997). Different materials such as (w/w) and 0.688 (at 25 °C), respectively. Date flesh was
isolated protein, maltodextrin of different dextrose equiva- minced in laboratory scale mincer (1400 W, MG450/
lent (DE) are incorporated in the fruit pulp in order to MG470 Kenwood Limited, Hampshire, UK) to make a
reduce the stickiness and produce free flowing powders smooth paste. Date paste of about 200 g along with the
(Peleg and Hollenbech, 1984; Roos, 1995; Roos and Karel, required amount of maltodextrin (dextrose equivalent,
1991b; Bhandari et al., 1997). In some cases, anti-caking DE 6) was mixed using a laboratory scale mixer (K45SS,
agents such as tricalcium phosphate, silicon dioxide, sili- 250 W, Kitchen Aid, Inc., MI). Three batches (reps) of four
cates, phosphates, salts of stearic acid and modified carbo- different proportions of maltodextrin to date paste (35:65,
hydrates are also used to improve handling properties of 40:60, 45:55 and 50:50) were used in the production of date
some powders (Roos and Karel, 1991a; Bhandari et al., powders. The mix was then spread to a thickness of about
1997b). These materials (added prior to drying or mixed in 5 mm on a Teflon coated tray and kept inside an oven
the bulk powder) function in four different ways: (i) compete dryer (Thermoline Scientific, Australia) at 70 °C for about
with host powders for moisture, (ii) act as physical barrier 18 h. The dry product was then ground in a hammer mill
between particles, (iii) act as moisture-protective barrier, (Telemecanique, France) to produce date powder. The
and (iv) increase glass transition temperature thus sticky powder was immediately collected in plastic pouches to
temperature (Barbosa-Canovas et al., 2005). avoid moisture pick-up from the air. Laboratory test sieves
In earlier work, James (1971) used tricalcium phosphate, (Endecotts Ltd., London, UK) were used to collect date
calcium silicate and calcium oxide at 0.15%, 0.10% and powder with particle size between 180 lm and 1.0 mm.
0.10% of wet mixture, respectively, along with 25–40% This powder was then stored in air tight plastic bottles till
sucrose to produce powder from guava and pineapple further analysis. Some physical and thermal characteristics
juices using vacuum drying. Jaya et al. (2006) used malto- of the powders were measured as described below.
dextrin (0.35–0.55 kg/kg of dry mango solids) and trical-
cium phosphate (0.0125–0.0175 kg/kg of dry mango
solids) while producing the powder from mango pulp using 2.2. Physical characteristic
vacuum drying method. Optimum amount of such agents
added to the fruits depends upon the type of fruit being The moisture content of the sample was determined
used to produce the powder, possibly due to the composi- using vacuum oven at 70 °C for 24 h (AOAC, 1990). The
tional variation in the fruit. water activity of date powder was measured using Aqua-
Spray drying is the most common method to produce Lab 3 Water Activity Meter (Decagon Devices, Inc.
powders. The disadvantage with the method is that it is Pullman, USA). The bulk density of date powders was esti-
expensive and cannot be used in simple processing opera- mated from measured mass and volume. For this, a cylinder
tion situation. In addition, atomization of date can be dif- of known dimension 2.25 cm diameter and 4.5 cm height
ficult due to the presence of fibers. The removal of fibers by was filled with date powder. The cylinder was tapped few
filtration from date can minimize this problem; however, it times and excess powder was removed by sliding a ruler
is important to note that the date fiber contributes signifi- over the edge of the cylinder. Mass of the date powder in
cantly to the flavor, color and nutritive value of the prod- cylinder was then measured using a balance. The volume
uct. In addition, prior to spray drying, the paste needs to be of the cylinder was calculated from the known diameter
diluted in order to reduce the viscosity to appropriate level and height. Hunter L, a and b parameters were determined
to be able to atomize the liquid. Keeping in mind of all using a Minolta Chroma meter (model CR-300, Minolta
above factors, this research work aimed at developing an Co., Japan) in the reflectance mode where, L is the light-
alternative economical processing technology to convert ness or darkness (black, L = 0; white, L = 100), +a is red-
the date to powder form. A simple mixing technique was ness, a is greenness, +b is yellowness, and b is blueness.
investigated to determine its technological suitability to The instrument was calibrated with white standard calibra-
produce date granules. This involved mixing the date paste tion plate provided by the manufacturer (L = 97.59,
with maltodextrin powder to reduce the stickiness of the a = 5.06, b = 6.91). Date powders were spread to 5 mm
product. This research consisted of two major activities thick over the white paper, and the tip of the measuring
(i) determination of an optimum proportion of date paste head was pointed on the samples for measurement. Three
and maltodextrin and (ii) characterization of physical and to five measurements were recorded for each sample. The
thermal characteristics of date powders. hygroscopicity (HG) was measured using a procedure
detailed by Jaya and Das (2004). HG was expressed as
2. Materials and methods the final moisture content attained after equilibrating with
humid air of 79.5% relative humidity. The hygroscopicity
2.1. Production of date powder of date powder was measured using following equation:

Commercially available California Date fruits were pur- Dm=M þ M i

HG ¼
chased from local market of Brisbane, Australia. The mois- 1 þ Dm=M
418 S.S. Sablani et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 87 (2008) 416–421

where, M is the initial mass of the powder before equilibra- ning. The sample holder with sample was heat scanned
tion, Dm is the mass increased after equilibration and Mi from 25 °C to 100 °C at 30 °C/min and data was recorded.
(%w.b.) is the initial moisture content of the powder. During heat scanning, at the glass transition temperature
the powder became soft and rubbery causing the down-
2.3. Thermal transitions by DSC ward displacement of probe. Similar heat scanning of mal-
todextrin (DE 6), Tg value P200 °C, was also performed as
Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) is a powerful a blank to >200 °C at 30 °C/min to obtain the expansion
tool used to investigate thermal and phase transitions of behavior of sample cell and probe during heating. The
food and biomaterials. Endothermal and exothermal magnitude of expansion by the sample cell (blank value)
changes, and shift in the base line in a DSC thermograph was subtracted from the displacement of probe during ther-
reveal transitions or reactions occurring during DSC scan, mal compression of sample to get the corrected data. The
such as glass transition and melting/solidification. DSC glass transition temperature (Tg) was determined by per-
thus can directly provide the transition temperature and forming linear regression of corrected data (Fig. 1). Linear
enthalpy of transition/reaction. A differential scanning cal- regression was done at data points at the linear regions
orimeter (Pyris 1, equipped with Intracooler II, Perkin below the glass rubber transition temperature (region
Elmer 7, CT, USA) was used to perform experiments. A–B) and extrapolated above the Tg (region C–D).
The calorimeter was calibrated according to the instruction Similarly, extrapolation of linear regression data above
provided by Perkin Elmer user manual by checking tem- Tg was performed. The intersection of the two linear lines
perature and enthalpy of fusion of indium and water as is taken as the Tg point.
standards. Date powder samples (5–10 mg) produced using
different concentration of maltodextrin were placed in alu- 3. Results and discussion
minum pans and were cooled to 30 °C at a 10 °C/min
cooling rate, and equilibrated for 1 min. After equilibration 3.1. Mixing technique to produce powder
the samples were scanned from 30 to 80 °C at a rate of
10 °C/min. The purpose of above thermal scan was to erase This investigation used a simple mixing technique to
the thermal history (such as enthalpy relaxation) of the convert date paste to powder form. This required a date
samples, which otherwise interfere with the Tg determina- mincer and a semi-solid mixing equipment. In this case a
tion. The samples were then quickly cooled to 30 °C at laboratory scale planetary mixer was used. A dough mixer
a cooling rate of 50 °C/min and rescanned from 30 to can also be very suitable for this purpose since the consis-
150 °C at 10 °C/min. Each thermogram was analyzed for tency of the product is similar to the dough. The mixing of
the onset, mid and end of transition and enthalpy of melt- maltodextrin powder and date paste produced wet granules
ing. Three replicates were used for all samples. at the initial stage of mixing when maltodextrin was still in
dry form. At this stage the dry powder particles broke the
2.4. Thermal transitions by TMCT continuity of paste and converted the paste to granular
form (but still wet). The powder particles also covered
Thermal transition of date powder was also measured the granules making the mixture a bit drier. However upon
by a novel technique called the thermal mechanical prolong mixing, the dry maltodextrin particles collected
compression test (TMCT). TMCT is a static mechanical moisture; consequently the mixture was converted to a
technique developed by Bhandari and co-workers in The
University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia that mea-
sures the Tg of the amorphous powders or caked mass.
The TMCT is based on the principle that an amorphous
sample under compression and temperature ramping sud-
denly transforms from a glassy state to rubbery state which Sample
can be manifested by a sudden displacement of compres- Average
sion probe (Boonyai et al., 2006). A brief description of this D
DA to DB
device along with the working principle is given here. It was
Displacement

mainly consists of a thermally controlled aluminum block C

Blank
Linear
or sample cell with a round engraved section to hold the regression
powder. The sample cell was connected with heater con- A Corrected B range
troller and temperature data logger. The sample holder
was connected to a texture analyzer TA-XT2 (Stable
Tg
Microsystem, UK) fitted with a 35 mm cylindrical alumi-
num probe. The test was carried out in relaxation mode
Temperature
(constant force applied). A time of 5 min was allowed for
date powder to be compressed at 50 N force by the probe, Fig. 1. Principle of glass transition temperature analysis of food powder
for stabilization of powder and probe before thermal scan- by TMCT including correction for expansion of sample cell.
 S.S. Sablani et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 87 (2008) 416–421 419

paste form (dough type consistency). Depending on the was expected to differ with change in their proportions.
proportion of maltodextrin and date paste, the wet gran- The increasing concentration of whitish MD in the reddish
ules were slowly converted to a dough form. At lower con- date paste increased the whiteness (L value) and subse-
centration of maltodextrin, the mixture was converted to quently decreased the redness (a value) of the powder. As
this form in a few minutes of mixing. At a maltodex- indicated by higher b value, the dark reddish color of date
trin:date paste proportion of 50:50, the mixture had a drier paste with became yellowish with the addition of MD.
consistency and required less time to dry in the oven Table 1 showed that the hygroscopicity of the date pow-
(although drying was done for the same period for all sam- der decreased with increasing amount of MD. The Califor-
ples). If the proportion of maltodextrin is higher, the mois- nian date contains about 80% sugars majority of which are
ture content of the mixture will also be lower, consequently reducing sugars such as glucose and fructose (FAO,
requiring less drying time. In fact for the drying purpose, Undated). As compared to macromolecules like maltodex-
wet granules are also better due to their open structure. trin, dates with low molecular weight amorphous sugars
Due to the presence of moisture in the date paste are very hygroscopic in nature. Therefore, the addition of
(around 20%, w/w), the mixture required further drying. maltodextrin reduced the hygroscopicity of the powder. This
It can noted here that the drying condition (70 °C) was certainly enhances the storage stability of the date powder.
higher than the glass transition temperature of the final The glass transition temperature (Tg) of low molecular
powder, therefore all the mixtures were at rubbery stage weight sugars (fructose and glucose) are very low (anhy-
all along the drying process (further discussed in the fol- drous fructose: 5 °C and glucose: 32 °C) Roos, 1993a,b
lowing section). Optimization of drying temperature and and this is why most food powder become sticky at room
use of alternative drying method to minimize the possible temperatures even at very low moisture content. Stickiness
heat damage to the product should be studied further. of powders produced from sugar rich products can be
This investigation found that a mixing technique is quite reduced and stability can be increased by adding com-
feasible to be used to make date paste into granular form. pounds having higher Tg value. The higher molecular
In this research a maltodextrin:date paste proportion of weight materials such as maltodextrin (anhydrous
50:50 was capable of producing date granules. In many Tg = 225 °C) can be used to increase the Tg of the powder
papers, researchers have reported 45–60% of maltodextrin thus increasing the sticky temperature and improving the
addition to convert sugar-rich foods such as honey and stability of powders at room temperature. The Tg of dry
fruit juices into powder form (Bhandari et al., 1997; Jaya solids for Khalas and Barni verities of dates have been
and Das, 2004). It is obvious that the mixing is a simple reported as 63.8 and 57.4 °C, respectively (Rahman, 2004;
technique and does not require sophisticated equipment Kasapis et al., 2000). The onset glass transition tempera-
and specialized operators as in the case of spray drying. ture (Tgi) of date flesh (wet) around water activity of 0.3
This is certainly an economic process, although no such has been reported at 13.8 °C (Rahman, 2004).
assessment was done in this research. The onset (Tgi), mid (Tgm) and end (Tge) point of glass
transition of date powders were estimated from the ther-
3.2. Physical and thermal characteristics of date powders mogram (Fig. 2). Depending upon the concentration of
maltodextrin used in the production of date powders, the
The physical and thermal properties of date powders Tgi increased by 37.1 °C. Table 2 shows the Tgi vary from
prepared with different proportion of maltodextrin (MD) 7.3 to 44.4 °C when the proportion of MD:date increased
and date paste are given in Tables 1 and 2. The bulk density from 35:65 to 50:50. The Tg data explains why the date
of date powder increased with increasing concentration of powder with maltodextrin: paste proportion of 50:50
maltodextrin and this was due to lower characteristic remained free flowing even after one year of storage time
dimension of particles of date powder. The addition of in air tight containers at room temperature (25 °C) while
finer (and heavier) sized maltodextrin particles in the date other three samples of date powder with lesser MD con-
paste resulted in a more dense powder mass. The color of tents showed caking. This meant that for this sample
date flesh was dark red whereas maltodextrin powder was (MD:date paste = 50:50) the storage temperature was
white; therefore, the color profile of these two mixtures much lower than sticky/caking temperature. A number of

Table 1
Some physical properties of date powders prepared using different proportions of maltodextrin (DE 6) to date paste- proportion
MD:date paste proportion qb (kg/m3) Color parametersa Hygroscopicity (%)
(dry weight basis)
L a b
35:65 658 45.8 ± 0.7 14.9 ± 0.6 24.0 ± 1.6 6.2
40:50 669 49.2 ± 0.2 13.9 ± 0.1 25.9 ± 0.2 5.5
45:50 717 57.9 ± 0.1 12.2 ± 0.1 28.0 ± 0.3 4.1
50:50 787 62.1 ± 0.4 11.9 ± 0.1 32.4 ± 0.1 4.0
a
Mean ± standard deviation (of triplicates).
420 S.S. Sablani et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 87 (2008) 416–421

Table 2
Glass transition temperatures (Tg) of date powders prepared using different concentration of maltodextrin
MD:date paste aw (fraction) Tg °C by DSCa Tg °C by TMCTa
(dry weight basis)
Tgi Tgm Tge
35:65 0.304 7.3 ± 0.9 12.7 ± 1.3 18.2 ± 2.1 NAb
40:50 0.300 8.1 ± 0.8 13.0 ± 2.1 18.2 ± 2.0 NA
45:50 0.334 9.3 ± 1.4 14.5 ± 0.1 18.0 ± 0.1 NA
50:50 0.297 44.4 ± 2.6 47.5 ± 2.0 50.3 ± 2.6 48.6 ± 0.7
a
Mean ± standard deviation (of triplicates).
b
NA means not analyzed – the glass transition temperature of granules lower than the ambient temperature.

45 1.4

1.2
40

Displacement (mm)
Tgm =13.6oC
Heat flow (mW)

35
0.8

o
Tge =19.7 C
0.6
30

0.4
Tg i=7.9oC

25
0.2 Tg =47.8oC

0
20
20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
-20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Temperature (°C) Temperature (°C)

Fig. 2. DSC thermogram of date powder containing 0.67 kg maltodex- Fig. 3. Determination of glass transition temperature of date powder
trin/kg of date paste. (1.0 kg MD/kg of date paste) from mechanical behavior measured by
thermal mechanical compression testing.

studies have reported the effect of glass transition on caking

(Jouppila and Roos, 1994a,b) of amorphous food powders. The glass transition temperature of date powder with
The stickiness of amorphous powders is due to viscous flow MD:date paste 50:50 was also measured using TMCT tech-
mechanism which is governed by temperature and moisture nique. The value of Tg (48.6 °C) obtained using TMCT
content. Under the influence of water and/or thermal plas- technique compared well with the value (Tgm = 47.5 °C)
ticization, a glassy material transforms into rubbery state measured using DSC (Fig. 3, Table 2). Extensive work of
at which surface viscosity reduces to below 108 Pas (Down- Boonyai (2005) has also demonstrated with apple, honey
ton et al., 1982). At that surface viscosity, the material is and skim milk powders that the glass transition tempera-
readily sticky. An immediate consequence of stickiness is ture obtained using TMCT technique was close to Tgm
that the particles become self-adhesive (cohesive) and measured by DSC. The date powder samples with MD
slowly flow under gravity to form a sintered bed (Lillford lower than MD:date paste 50:50 date paste were not ana-
and Fryer, 1998). In the case of date powder, the caking lyzed with TMCT since their expected Tg values were lower
was observed for those samples which had lower glass tran- than the room temperature and the current configuration
sition temperature than the storage temperature (Table 2). of TMCT apparatus allow the measurement only above
In fact these date powder granules had a rubbery consis- room temperature.
tency from the start. Due to the large particle size, they
were not yet fused together during the short period storage. 4. Conclusion
A gentle shaking could still disperse loosely adhered gran-
ules. However, upon storage for longer time without dis- A simple mixing technology was capable of converting
turbing, the granules fused and formed a caked mass. the date paste to granular form. This implies that the
 S.S. Sablani et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 87 (2008) 416–421 421

process is feasible to be applied in low capital and technol- Boonyai, P., Bhandari, B., Howes, T., 2006. Application of thermal
ogy environment. Date paste required at least 50% malto- mechanical compression tests in food powder analysis. Int. J. Food
Prop. 9 (1), 127–134.
dextrin to obtain self-stable dry solids. The mixture still Downton, G.E., Flores-Luna, J.L., King, C.J., 1982. Mechanism of
required a drying due to the presence of moisture in the stickiness in hygroscopic, amorphous powders. Ind. Eng. Chem. Fund.
paste. Further work is required to lower the drying temper- 21, 447–451.
ature and time to avoid thermal damage to the product Hodel, D.R., Pittenger, D.R., 2003. Studies on the establishment of date
during this process. Shelf life study may provide insight palm (Phoenix dactylifera ‘Deglet Noor’) offshoots. Part I. Observa-
tions on root development and leaf growth. Plams. 47, 191–200.
into physical and chemical stability of the product during James, R., 1971. Vacuum puff freeze drying of tropical fruit juices. J. Food
storage. Additional study is underway to incorporate other Sci. 36, 906–910.
ingredients which reduce the amount of carriers and also Jaya, S., Das, H., 2004. Effect of maltodextrin, glycerol monostearate and
improve the nutritive value of the powder. tricalcium phosphate on vacuum dried mango powder properties. J.
Food Eng. 63, 125–134.
Jaya, S., Das, H., Mani, S., 2006. Optimization of maltodextrin and
Acknowledgement tricalcium phosphate for producing vacuum dried mango powder. Int.
J. Food Prop. 9, 13–24.
Author Dr. Shyam S. Sablani wishes to thank Univer- Jouppila, K., Roos, Y.H., 1994a. Glass transitions and crystallization in
sity of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia for providing him milk powders. J. Dairy Sci. 77 (10), 2907–2915.
a partial financial support through Travel Award for Inter- Jouppila, K., Roos, Y.H., 1994b. Water sorption and time-dependent
phenomena of milk powders. J. Dairy Sci. 77 (7), 1798–1808.
national Collaborative Research to conduct this study. Kasapis, S., Rahman, M.S., Guizani, N., Al-Aamri, M., 2000. State
diagram of temperature vs. date solids obtained from mature fruit. J.
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