Physical properties of yoghurt powder produced by spray drying.

The study is an extension of an optimization study, which was planned to determine the optimum spray drying conditions (the feed, outlet and inlet air temperatures) for producing yoghurt powder. The resulting yoghurt powder at each condition was subjected to the measurement of physical properties, moisture content, and reconstitution properties. All the reconstitution properties of yoghurt powders produced under 20 different spray drying conditions according to CCRD experimental design were affected by the drying outlet temperature only. Furthermore, the bulk (bulk and tapped densities, porosity, flowability, hygroscopicity and degree of caking) and particle properties (particle size distribution, particle density and morphology) of yoghurt powder obtained from optimum spray drying conditions were also determined. The bulk, tapped and particle densities of yoghurt powder were 538, 746 and 1177 kg/m(3), respectively. The mean diameter (D4.3) and the span value of yoghurt powder were 3.053 and 2.487 μm, respectively.