<b>Hydration kinetics of transgenic soybeans

Resumo

The kinetic and experimental analyses of the hydration process of transgenic soybeans (BRS 225 RR) are provided. The importance of the hydration process consists of the grain texture modifications which favor grinding and extraction of soybeans. The soaking isotherms were obtained for four different temperatures. Results showed that temperature affected transgenic soybeans´ hydration rate and time. Moisture content d.b. of the soybeans increased from 0.12 ± 0.01 kg kg^-1 to 1.45 ± 0.19 kg kg^-1 during 270 min. of process. Two models were used to fit the kinetic curves: an empirical model developed by Peleg (1988) and a phenomenological one, proposed by Omoto et al. (2009). The two models adequately represented the hydration kinetics. Peleg model was applied to the experimental data and the corresponding parameters were obtained and correlated to temperature. The model by Omoto et al. (2009) showed a better statistical fitting. Although K_s was affected by temperature (K_s = 0.38079 exp (-2289.3 T^-1)), the equilibrium concentration remained practically unchanged.