Moisture Sorption Isotherms and Net Isosteric Heats of Sorption of Green Soybean

Moisture sorption isotherms of green soybean seeds were determined by static gravimetric method and water activity ranging from 0.11to 0.94 at 20, 30 and 40°C. The optimal sorption model of green soybean was determined by using nonlinear regression method. Modified BET multilayer sorption theory model parameters at different temperatures were calculated, isosteric sorption heat was derived by the water activity sorption isosteric model. Results indicated that sorption isotherms were belong to type III behaviour, a notable hysteresis effect was observed, Green soybean monolayer saturated sorption capacity was greater in desorption process than that of adsorption. The monolayer saturated sorption capacity decreased with increasing temperature, while the number of multilayer had a reverse trend with the monolayer saturated sorption capacity, the optimal sorption isotherm model for green soybean is Halsey model, The thermodynamic parameters including net isosteric heat of adsorption and desorption calculated at 40°C were 105.2-1865.4 kJ/kg and 111.62-1939.0 kJ/kg with equilibrium moisture content between 5% and 32% (d.b.), respectively. The net isosteric heat of sorption decreased with increasing equilibrium moisture content.