Evaluation of Some Selected Mango Varieties for Fruit Powder Production In Ghana

Mango is an important fruit, which receives high patronage in Ghana. However, the highly seasonal and perishable nature of the crop, besides being a constraint to both farmers and processors, also deny consumers the opportunity to enjoy the fruit all year round. Use of the stable powder form of mango can serve to fill the gap during the mango off-season. This study evaluated the fruits of four major mango varieties (“Keitt”, “Kent”, “Palmer” and a local variety) grown in Ghana for their suitability for fruit powder production. The fresh fruit pulp and reconstituted freeze-dried powder of the varieties were analyzed for physicochemical characteristics. The study revealed that “Keitt”, “Kent” and “Palmer”, which are the exotic varieties, had significantly (p≤0.05) high pulp content of 68%, 66% and 63% respectively indicating potential for high fruit powder yield. Acceptable levels of total soluble solids, titratable acidity, ascorbic acid and beta-carotene contents were observed in the fresh fruit and the freeze-dried powders of the varieties. There was no significant (p≤0.05) difference in Yellowness Index between fresh fruit pulp of “Keitt”, “Kent” and “Palmer” and their respective reconstituted freeze-dried powders. These three mango varieties exhibited considerably good quality in terms of physical and chemical characteristics for processing and utilization as fruit powder. The production of high quality mango powder from these varieties could therefore serve as substitutes in the off-season and also reduce postharvest loss.

Synthesis of Ti Powder from the Reduction of TiCl4 with Metal Hydrides in the H2 Atmosphere: Thermodynamic and Techno-Economic Analyses

Titanium hydride (TiH2) is one of the basic materials for titanium (Ti) powder metallurgy. A novel method was proposed to produce TiH2 from the reduction of titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4) with magnesium hydride (MgH2) in the hydrogen (H2) atmosphere. The primary approach of this process is to produce TiH2 at a low-temperature range through an efficient and energy-saving process for further titanium powder production. In this study, the thermodynamic assessment and technoeconomic analysis of the process were investigated. The results show that the formation of TiH2 is feasible at low temperatures, and the molar ratio between TiCl4 and metal hydride as a reductant material has a critical role in its formation. Moreover, it was found that the yield of TiH2 is slightly higher when CaH2 is used as a reductant agent. The calculated equilibrium composition diagrams show that when the molar ratio between TiCl4 and metal hydrides is greater than the stoichiometric amount, the TiCl3 phase also forms. With a further increase in this ratio to greater than 4, no TiH2 was formed, and TiCl3 was the dominant product. Furthermore, the technoeconomic study revealed that the highest return on investment was achieved for the production scale of 5 t/batch of Ti powder production, with a payback time of 2.54 years. The analysis shows that the application of metal hydrides for TiH2 production from TiCl4 is technically feasible and economically viable.