Studying of Lactulose Hygroscopicity and Microstructure after Spray Dehydration.

The present work investigates the impact of spray dehydration technological parameters upon lactulose yield. It is ascertained that the maximum plant productivity is ensured at dehydrating of solutions with the lactulose mass fraction of 50% at the temperature of 140 +/- 1 degrees C and the speed of feeding the solution into the chamber of 6 ml/min. Impact of spray dehydration technological parameters upon the end-product quality characteristics has been studied. It has been ascertained that correspondence of the end-product to the quality characteristics is gained by usage of the dehydration temperature of 140 +/- 1 degrees C, the feeding speed of 6 ml/min, the airspeed of 20-25 m(3)/h. Lactulose received by hydrating a solution with the mass fraction of 50% meets the requirements laid on food carbohydrates as the solubility index lies within the range from 0,10 +/- 0,02 to 0,30 +/- 0,02 cm(3) of wet residue. The particles size does not exceed the standardized value of 10 mu m. Microstructure of dry lactulose received at different dehydration temperatures has been studied. It is ascertained that the optimum dehydration temperature is 140 degrees C. At the temperatures of 100-120 degrees C dehydrated lactulose is prone to glueing of the particles. Heated over 140 degrees C, the product has a more dispersed structure, but there are signs of caramelization.