Abstract

CASTRO FETTERMANN, Diego et al. Improvements in the processing of agricultural commodities: The case of cocoa liquor. Dyna rev.fac.nac.minas [online]. 2017, vol.84, n.201, pp.117-122. ISSN 0012-7353.  https://doi.org/10.15446/dyna.v84n201.56672.

The solidification of the cocoa liquor is one of the most important steps for processing cocoa cultivars. This process is typically characterized as a continuous process, which may become a barrier for the randomization of the applied data treatments. This article aims at optimizing the factors that influence the processing of cocoa cultivars during solidification of liquor. Based on this, it was proposed, as a design of experiment (DOE), a three level factorial plan (23) with three repeated measurements. Treatments were organized in random blocks with divided-cells (split-plot). The experiment presents the best combinations between the factors ‘pump flow’ and ‘conveyor speed’ for each kind of cocoa liquor. The application of this kind of design of experiments in other cases may contribute to optimizing processes with long set up times, such as the ones existent in the food processing industry.

Keywords : Design of experiments; split-plot; Theobroma cacao L.

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