Salts anhydrous to be used in the moisture sorption determination
were lithium chloride, potassium acetate, magnesium
chloride, potassium carbonate, magnesium nitrate, sodium bromide,
strontium chloride, sodium chloride, potassium chloride,
and barium chloride. All reagents and standards used in this work
were obtained from Fermont (Me´ xico).
A total of 15 kg of blueberry (Vaccinium ashei) var. Rabbiteye
were collected in Zacatlan, Puebla, Me´ xico. Portions of 250 g of the
fruit were mashed, mixed and stored in polyethylene bags at
42 8C until extraction.
Mesquite gum (Prosopis laevigata) was collected in San Luis
Potosı´, Me´ xico. Purification of mesquite gum was performed
following the technique developed by Beristain et al. (2002).
Mesquite gum (160 g) was dissolved in distilled water at room
temperature (20 8C), until a volume of 1 L was reached. The
mixture was filtered using Whatman paper No 1 and dehydrated in
Mini Spray Dryer Bu¨ chi B-290 (Switzerland), under the following
conditions: inlet temperature 180 2 8C; outlet temperature
92 4 8C, air flow 7.32 L/min, and a feeding rate of 9 mL/min.
Powders were stored in polyethylene bags at room temperature until
they were about to be used.