EVALUACIÓN DEL TIEMPO DE SECADO EN UN SECADOR SOLAR Y SU INCIDENCIA EN LAS CARACTERÍSTICAS FISICOQUÍMICAS DE LA ALMENDRA DE DOS VARIEDADES DE CACAO (Theobroma cacao L)

Abstract

The traditional process of drying cocoa beans is directly in the sun, on concrete patios, or asphalt roads, which causes a low quality in the product. The objective of this research was to evaluate the drying time in a solar dryer, determining its incidence on the physicochemical characteristics of the almond of two varieties of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.). A completely randomized experimental design (DCA) was used with a 2x3 factorial arrangement, with three repetitions per treatment, factor A corresponds to the cocoa varieties (criollo and CCN-51) and factor B, to the drying time (3, 4 and 5 days) for the comparison of means, the Tukey test at 0.05% was used. In the cocoa beans, the physicochemical parameters of moisture, seed index, weight of 100 grains and pH were evaluated. A significant difference was determined for the variables humidity, seed index, and weight of 100 grains in all treatments, while for the variable pH with a p> 0.05, there was no significant difference between the treatments. It was identified that the T5 treatment presented better time for the drying of cocoa beans, being 4 days for the CCN-51 variety which presented a moisture percentage of 7.09% close to that required by the INEN 176 standard, while the index seed was more suitable for T2 (Creole / 4 days of drying) with 1.62 g; the weight parameters of 100 grains with values between 145.33 g to 144.33 g and pH of 6.49 to 6.41 presented better results for the CCN-51 variety. The cabin type solar dryer can be used as an alternative for small cocoa producers.