Coconut milk interfaced sodium caseinate-maltodextrin powders using foam mat and infrared assisted hot air drying approaches

Coconut milk, a plant-based alternative, poses challenges in preservation due to its high fat and moisture content post-extraction. Transforming its aqueous state into powder form offers advantages in handling, storage, and shelf life extension. This research aimed to assess the efficacy of various drying techniques (infrared drying [ID], hot air drying [HD], and a hybrid approach combining both [IHD]) in foam mat drying coconut milk. Additionally, the impact of drying parameters like temperature (55, 65, and 75 ℃) and foam thickness (2 and 4 mm) on the physical and bioactive properties of the resulting coconut milk powder was examined. The powder’s characteristics including bulk density, solubility, Carr’s index, Hausner ratio, moisture content, carbohydrate, ash, protein, fat, total phenols, DPPH scavenging activity, and FRAP were evaluated. Notably, powder derived from a 2 mm spread thickness, dried at 65 ℃ using the IHD method, demonstrated favorable attributes such as excellent flowability (Hausner ratio of 1.10 and Carrs index of 10), and significant nutrient composition with protein at 12.43%, carbohydrate at 28.11%, fat at 52.45%, ash at 1.01%, total phenolic content at 69.511 mg GA/100 g, DPPH activity at 79.25%, and FRAP at 9.36 mg Trolex/100 g. Overall, the hybrid drying approach (IHD) yielded superior quality powder compared to individual drying methods.