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Moisture Sorption Isotherms and Properties of Sorbed Water of Neem (Azadirichta indica A. Juss) Kernels

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Journal of Engineering Physics and Thermophysics Aims and scope

A neem tree growing abundantly in India as well as in some regions of Asia and Africa gives fruits whose kernels have about 40–50% oil. This oil has high therapeutic and cosmetic qualities and is recently projected to be an important raw material for the production of biodiesel. Its seed is harvested at high moisture contents, which leads tohigh post-harvest losses. In the paper, the sorption isotherms are determined by the static gravimetric method at 40, 50, and 60°C to establish a database useful in defining drying and storage conditions of neem kernels. Five different equations are validated for modeling the sorption isotherms of neem kernels. The properties of sorbed water, such as the monolayer moisture content, surface area of adsorbent, number of adsorbed monolayers, and the percent of bound water are also defined. The critical moisture content necessary for the safe storage of dried neem kernels is shown to range from 5 to 10% dry basis, which can be obtained at a relative humidity less than 65%. The isosteric heats of sorption at 5% moisture content are 7.40 and 22.5 kJ/kg for the adsorption and desorption processes, respectively. This work is the first, to the best of our knowledge, to give the important parameters necessary for drying and storage of neem kernels, a potential raw material for the production of oil to be used in pharmaceutics, cosmetics, and biodiesel manufacturing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Higher Teachers’ Training College, University of Maroua, Maroua, Cameroon

    M. C. Ngono Mbarga

  2. Department of Food and Bio-resource Technology, College of Technology, University of Bamenda, P.O. Box 39, Bambili, Bamenda, Cameroon

    D. Bup Nde

  3. Higher Institute of the Sahel, University of Maroua, P.O. Box 46, Maroua, Cameroon

    D. Bup Nde

  4. Faculty of Science and Technologies, University of Sarh, P.O. Box 105, Chad, Cameroon

    A. Mohagir & C. Kapseu

  5. Department of Process Engineering, ENSAI, University of Ngaoundere, P.O. Box 455, Ngaoundere, Cameroon

    G. Elambo Nkeng

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  1. M. C. Ngono Mbarga
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  2. D. Bup Nde
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  3. A. Mohagir
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  4. C. Kapseu
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  5. G. Elambo Nkeng
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Correspondence to D. Bup Nde.

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Published in Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 90, No. 1, pp. 40–47, 2017.

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Ngono Mbarga, M.C., Bup Nde, D., Mohagir, A. et al. Moisture Sorption Isotherms and Properties of Sorbed Water of Neem (Azadirichta indica A. Juss) Kernels. J Eng Phys Thermophy 90, 35–42 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10891-017-1536-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10891-017-1536-7

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