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International Journal of Food Science and Agriculture

ISSN Online: 2578-3475 ISSN Print: 2578-3467 CODEN: IJFSJ3
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ArticleOpen Access http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/ijfsa.2025.12.006

Modelling of Local Processes for Preserving Safou Pulp ( Dacryodes Edulis (G. Dom) H. J. Lam) in Brazzaville, Congo

Feueltgaldah Christian Bopoundza1,3,*, Jean Bruno Bassiloua1,3,4, Anicet Frédéric Binaki1,2,3, Bob Wilfrid Loumouamou1,2,3, Eliane Thérèse Biassala1,3, Boukouhola Avalanga1, Thomas Silou1,3,4

1Multidisciplinary Food and Nutritional Research Team, Regional Center of Excellence in Food and Nutrition, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Marien Ngouabi University, Brazzaville, BP 69, Republic of the Congo.

2Process Engineering Laboratory, UNESCO-ENSP Chair, Marien Ngouabi University, Brazzaville, BP 69, Republic of the Congo.

3CR2IE, Chemistry and Technology Platform, Higher School of Cataract Technology (EPrES), Brazzaville, BP 69, Republic of the Congo.

4Non Wood Forest Products Valorization Center, CVPFNL, Pointe Noire, B.P. 69, Republic of the Congo.

*Corresponding author: Feueltgaldah Christian Bopoundza

Published: December 31,2025

Abstract

Safou is a fruit rich in fat, whose traditional processing methods suffer from a lack of scientific data. Modelling of the kinetics of its sun drying, smoking, and transpiration during storage in the shade has been studied. The experimental curves show a faster evolution with the rack than with the tray during sun drying and with the endocarp facing downwards than with the endocarp facing upwards during smoking; these evolutions are also proportional to the mass and water content when the masses are similar. As a result, safou is dried in two and a half days with the rack compared to four days with the tray in the sun, and in two and a half days with the endocarp facing downwards compared to three and a quarter days with the endocarp facing upwards during smoking. The influence of the rack structure on the duration of dehydration was not observed during storage in the shade. From an economic and finished product quality perspective, sun drying of safou can be used as a preliminary process prior to oil extraction. Storage in the shade does not appear to be conducive to extending the shelf life of fresh safou, given the high temperatures recorded during the harvest periods. The experimental curves validate Peleg's empirical model better than Fick's diffusion model. The kinetic values of these two models give predictable values that are sometimes too far from the experimental values obtained.

Keywords

Safou; local storage; dehydration; kinetics; modelling

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How to cite this paper

Modelling of Local Processes for Preserving Safou Pulp (Dacryodes Edulis (G. Dom) H. J. Lam) in Brazzaville, Congo

How to cite this paper: Feueltgaldah Christian Bopoundza, Jean Bruno Bassiloua, Anicet Frédéric Binaki, Bob Wilfrid Loumouamou, Eliane Thérèse Biassala, Boukouhola Avalanga, Thomas Silou. (2025) Modelling of Local Processes for Preserving Safou Pulp (Dacryodes Edulis (G. Dom) H. J. Lam) in Brazzaville, Congo. International Journal of Food Science and Agriculture, 9(4), 298-314.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/ijfsa.2025.12.006

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