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Tejate Drying Study
Mendoza-Santiago H. 1 , Cortés-Noh M. M. 1 , Monroy-Rivera J. A. 2 *
1 Instituto Tecnológico de Oaxaca (amos_31@itoaxaca.edu.mx), 2 UNIDA, Instituto Tecnológico de
Veracruz (jamonroy@itver.edu.mx)
The Tejate is a prehispanic beverage made from corn (Zea mays),
cocoa (Theobroma cocoa), mamee sapote seeds (Calocarpum
mammosum), Rosita de Cacao (Quararibea funebris), corozo,
water and lime. This beverage is consumed mainly in the Central
Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico. The purpose of this study was to dry the
tejate, so as to make it more stable by reducing its water activity
(Aw). Consumer testing was used to find out the most liked
formulation for the tejate. Drying was done in a hot air dryer at 60,
70 and 80°C with different layer thicknesses (0.25, 0.5 and 0.75
cm). Isotherms were performed at 15, 25 and 35°C. Results
showed that the best tejate formulation was obtained when corozo
was not used. The best drying conditions were set at 70°C and 0.5
cm layer thickness. Moisture and Aw were correlated by both the
Henderson expression (r 2 =0.94-0.98) and Chung-Pfost expression
(r 2 =0.93-0.98).
KEY WORDS: Tejate, drying, sorption isotherms.
INTRODUCTION.
Tejate is a traditional beverage of the
central valley of Oaxaca, in Mexico. It
is prepared from corn (Zea mays),
cocoa (Theobroma cocoa), mamee
sapote seeds (Calocarpum
mammosum), Rosita de Cacao
(Quararibea funebris), corozo, water
and lime. People like this brew,
because it has a very special taste
and it is also a highly energetic
beverage. People drink it during hard
farming activities when they spend
most of the time outside, being
exposed directly to the sun. The
ingredients are mixed and grounded
in a stone mill. The product obtained
is a paste. This paste is dissolved in
water during the beverage
preparation. The water is slowly
added with hand agitation until the
desired consistency is achieved. A
foam layer must be formed on the
surface of the liquid (Cortes, 1999).
This way of Tejate preparation is not
very hygienic. Fecal contamination
has been found in samples of tejate
beverage (Jimenez Santiago et al.,
2004). The dough and the drink are
unstable, they have a high Aw value
and microorganisms and enzymatic
and physical-chemical deteriorative
reactions take place. The purpose of
this study was to dry the tejate so as