444 International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2014 49, 444–452

Original article
Desorption isotherms, net isosteric heat and the effect of
temperature and water activity on the antioxidant activity of two
varieties of onion (Allium cepa L)

Armand A. Bouba,1* Nicolas Y. Njintang,2,3 Gilles Bernard Nkouam,1 Yannick Dimitry Mang,4
Abul-Hamd El-Sayed Mehanni,5 Jo€el Scher,6 Didier Montet7 & Carl Moses Mbofung3
1 Department of Agriculture, Livestock and By-products, ISS, University of Maroua, PO Box 46, Maroua, Cameroon
2 Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Ngaoundere, PO Box 454, Ngaoundere, Cameroon
3 Department of Food Science and Nutrition, ENSAI, University of Ngaoundere, PO Box 455, Ngaoundere, Cameroon
4 Department of Life and Earth Sciences, ENS, University of Maroua, PO Box 46, Maroua, Cameroon
5 Department of Food Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Sohag University, Sohag 82786, Egypt
6 Laboratory of Biomolecular Engineering, ENSAIA, INPL, Nancy-Universite, B.P. 172 F-54505 Vandoeuvre-Les-Nancy 2, Avenue for^et de
la Haye., Nancy, France
7 Cirad, UMR Qualisud, TA B95/16, Montpellier Cedex 5 34398, France
(Received 1 February 2013; Accepted in revised form 30 July 2013)

Summary The standard static gravimetric method was used to determine moisture desorption isotherms (MDIs) of
two onion varieties (Goudami and Galmi Violet) at 30 °C, 45 °C and 60 °C in the water activity ranging
from 0.055 to 0.83. The combined effects of temperature and water activity on the antioxidant activities
of the onion varieties were also studied. GAB, Oswin, Smith and BET equations were tested to fit the
experimental data. The net isosteric heat of sorption was calculated. Equilibrium moisture content
(EMC), total phenolic content (TPC) and antiradical activity were also measured. The isotherm and the
EMC vary significantly with the onion variety and drying temperature, irrespective of water activity (aw).
Desorption isotherms were best described by the GAB model. The maximum net isosteric heats for Galmi
Violet (32.58 kJ mol
1) were greater than those of Goudami (23.50 kJ mol
1) at each EMC. The TPC
and antiradical activity of the Galmi Violet were significantly (P ≤ 0.05) higher than that of the Goudami
at all investigated temperatures and water activities.
Keywords Allium cepa L., antioxidant activity, isosteric, isotherms.

Ostrowska, 2006). Studies on the physicochemical

Introduction
Onion (Allium cepa L) is a widely consumed vegetable
in the world. Its annual worldwide production was
estimated at 64.5 million tons on a 3.45-million-ha
area (FAO, 2009 in Mitra et al., 2011). Onions are
usually used in the cooking of food as a condiment for
the increase of flavour, but can also be eaten raw. It is
preferred to other condiments for its dominant flavour
in certain foods such as fish and meat (Rodriguez
et al., 2003). Recent studies increasingly confirmed the
wide range of preventive and curative effects of this
plant in the treatment of eye inflammation and respira-
tory problems and fight against some infections due to
its sulphur compounds (Ali et al., 2000; Gabler &
*Correspondent: E-mail: abdouarmand@yahoo.fr
composition of onion have revealed that it contains
many phenolic compounds, especially flavonoids
(Hertog et al., 1992; Formica & Regelson, 1995).
Onion represents a source of cysteine derivatives,
which makes it a good antioxidant source in diet (Os-
trowska et al., 2004) and increases its potential as a
functional food (Tram Ngoe et al., 2005). These com-
pounds, through their antioxidant properties, protect
the body against oxidative stress (Ames et al., 1993;
Arif et al., 2010). Onion also contains some vitamins,
carbohydrates, proteins and minerals (Amadou, 1994;
Scalbert & Williamson, 2000; Irene et al., 2008).
In Cameroon, onion occupies an important place in
the daily diet of the local population, as it is present in
about 80% of the Cameroon’s meals (Essang, 1994).
According to this author, the average individual

doi:10.1111/ijfs.12321
© 2013 The Authors. International Journal of Food Science and Technology © 2013 Institute of Food Science and Technology

consumption of this vegetable is about 1 kg per month
with its annual production estimated at 119 638 tons
(Yaya et al., 2002). Onion production represents an
‘economic power house’ in the North and Far North
regions of Cameroon, which comprises the bulk of
production (Magalie et al., 2002). The most cultivated
varieties of onion in Cameroon are Goudami and
Galmi Violet. However, this sector has huge problems,
especially those related to postharvest losses estimated
at 40% of the annual production (Magalie et al., 2002;
Yaya et al., 2002). These losses are due to the poor
organisation of producers and onion traders, the high
cost of improved storage method and the lack of post-
harvest technologies. The storage period of fresh onion
is limited to three months (Magalie et al., 2002), a per-
iod partly responsible for the scarcity of this vegetable
during its off season and of course the increase in
onion cost.
To improve the storage of onion and minimise post-
harvest losses, to ensure food security during the non-
production period and to help producers to be able to
process onion in sliced form (Magalie et al., 2002),
dehydration has been reported to be one of the widely
used methods for the preservation of fruits and vegeta-
bles. This is intensively applied in subtropical regions
where sunlight is present throughout the year. Knowl-
edge on the sorption isotherms is important to be eval-
uated as it helps to determine the monomolecular
moisture content (MMC), which is the final water con-
tent of dried food to enable the maintenance of its
nutritional quality and chemical and microbial stability
(Frederic & Lilia, 2004; Simbarashe et al., 2007). Iso-
therms allow a rational determination of the drying
and storage limits of foodstuffs (Ahouannou et al.,
2000). Many studies on the desorption of onion pro-
cessing have been published (Sukumar et al., 2002;
Viswanathan et al., 2003; Passo Tsamo et al., 2005;
Sutar & Gupta, 2007; Mitra et al., 2011), but those
produced in the agro-ecological systems of Cameroon
are still to be evaluated. Although many studies have
assumed that the best drying and storage conditions of
foods were for the monomolecular moisture content,
this cannot be testified unless it has been experimen-
tally proved that the degradation was less under this
condition (Cheftel & Cheftel, 1977). Onion is a source
of antioxidant molecules that may be used as markers
to experimentally ensure the quality of the product
€
(Discala & Crapiste, 2008; Derya & Ozcan, 2010). To
the best of our knowledge, such study has not been
carried out on onion.
It is in this light therefore that this work aims at
determining the desorption isotherms for two onion
varieties (Goudami and Galmi Violet) at different tem-
peratures and relative humidity and to evaluate the
effect of temperature and water activity (aw) on the
antioxidant activity of these two onion varieties.
© 2013 The Authors
International Journal of Food Science and Technology © 2013 Institute of Food Science and Technology
Desorption isotherms of two onion varieties A. A. Bouba et al. 445
Materials and methods
Sample preparation
The Goudami and Galmi Violet onion varieties were
obtained from Meskine-Maroua farm in Cameroon in
March 2012. The samples were selected by discarding
the damaged onion and wastes such as leaves and soil.
Fresh mature samples (86.75% water for Goudami and
87.01% water for Galmi Violet, as wet basis) were cut
with a stainless steel knife into 10-mm slices through
calliper measurement.
Equilibrium moisture content determination
The static gravimetric method, which is the common
method to determine the moisture sorption isotherms of
food material (Staudt et al., 2013), was used to deter-
mine the equilibrium moisture content (EMC) of onion
slices at 30, 45 and 60 °C. These temperatures were cho-
sen as traditional storage temperature of the onions in
the Far North region of Cameroon. Furthermore, these
are temperatures at which drying can be carried out.
Table S1 indicates the seven saturated salt solutions
(KOH, CH3COOK, MgCl2, K2CO3, KI, NaCl and
KCl) used in this study. These solutions had relative
humidity levels that range from 0.055 to 0.836. Each
saturated solution was taken into a glass bottle to one-
quarter depth and then kept at a controlled temperature
in an oven for 24 h where it gets stabilized. A small
amount of salt was added to ensure that the solution
remained saturated. A little amount of toluene was
placed in each sorption glass bottle to prevent the fun-
gal contamination (Labuza, 1984). Seven bottles of
105.2 mm inner diameter equipped with sealers were
used to carry out these experiments. Each glass bottle
was provided with a tripod stand carrying a perforated
aluminium wire gauze platform to hold the sample. The
platform was raised above the level of the saturated salt
solutions to avoid contact between the salt solution and
the sample holder when placed in the glass bottle. Trip-
licate fresh onion slice samples of 1 g with an accuracy
of  0.001 g were weighed before and transferred into
sample containers. The seven bottles containing satu-
rated solutions and onion slices were tightly closed and
put in a ventilated electric oven, and the loss in weights
was evaluated after every 48 h. EMC was determined
by drying samples in a ventilated electric oven at 105 °C
for 24 h (AOAC, 1990). EMC was measured when three
consecutive weighings showed a difference of less than
the balance accuracy of 0.001 g (after 14 days).
Modelling equations
Four mathematical equations were used for the
description of the desorption isotherms of onion slices
International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2014
446 Desorption isotherms of two onion varieties A. A. Bouba et al.
as shown in Table S2. These equations were the most
widely used to fit the experimental sorption data of
various food materials (Kaymak-Ertekin & Gedik,
2004). Although GAB model was considered as an
extension of the BET model, it had a reliable theoreti-
cal base and parameters that described the effects of
temperature on the isotherms by means of the Arrhe-
nius-type equations (Rizvi, 1986). The parameter val-
ues of the tested models were estimated by nonlinear
regression with the experimental result using the soft-
ware Sigma-plot11.0 (Systat software, Inc., San Jose,
CA, USA). The best fitting equations (eqn 1) were
evaluated with the mean relative percentage deviation
(P) and determination coefficient (R2), and P was
defined as follows:

N 
 2.5 mL of 1% aqueous KFe (CN) solution and incu-
100 X Mei
Mpi 
Pð%Þ ¼ ð1Þ
N i¼1 Mei
where Mei and Mpi are the experimental and predicted
moisture content values, respectively; N is the number
of experimental data. This model was considered
acceptable when P values were below 10% (Boquet
et al., 1978).
Calculation of the isosteric net heat of sorption
The net isosteric heats of sorption were determined by
the moisture desorption data using the classical
Clausius–Clapeyron’s equation (eqn 2).
This equation links the variation in pure water
vapour partial pressure (P0) with T.
dLnP0 =dð1=TÞ ¼
k=R
That is, the net isosteric heat of sorption can be cal-
culated by plotting the sorption isostere. –lnaw = f(1/T)
for a specific moisture content of material and deter-
mining the slope that equals Qs/R. This procedure was
repeated for different moisture contents to determine
the dependence of Qs on the moisture content (Kapseu
et al., 2006).
Analysis of antioxidant activity
Onions obtained after desorption by the static gravi-
metric method were ground and used in the extraction
of antioxidants. Efficiency of extraction is an impor-
tant factor for the comparison of antioxidant activity.
Previous studies reported that relatively higher antioxi-
dant activities were observed from methanolic extracts
in onion varieties (Abdou Bouba et al., 2012). For this
reason, methanol was selected as the solvent of choice
for extraction in this study. The methanolic extracts
were obtained from 20 mg mL
1 of ground spice sam-
ple. In brief, 250 mg of ground spice sample was
extracted by stirring with 25 mL of methanol at room
International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2014
International Journal of Food Science and Technology © 2013 Institute of Food Science and Technology
temperature for 2 h and filtering through Whatman
No 1 (Maidstone, England) filter paper. Residues were
re-extracted with additional 25 mL of methanol for a
further 2 h and filtered as described. The volume of
the combined extract was removed by evaporation,
and the lot stored in a sealed tube at 4 °C until
required for use.
Ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP)
The antioxidant potential of the different onion
extracts was also evaluated by their ability to reduce
iron (III) to iron (II) following the method of Chan
et al. (2009). In this respect, 1-mL aliquot of each
extract, dissolved in distilled water, was mixed with
2.5 mL of phosphate buffer (0.2 M, pH 6.6) and
bated for 30 min at 50 °C. After this, 2.5 mL of 10%
TCA was added, and the mixture was centrifuged for
10 min. A known volume of 2.5-mL aliquot of the
supernatant was mixed with 2.5 mL of distilled water
and 0.5 mL of 0.1% aqueous FeCl3, and the absor-
bance was recorded at 700 nm. Ferric-reducing
antioxidant power was determined as ascorbic acid
equivalents (mg ascorbic acid per g extract).
Determination of total phenol content
Total phenol content was determined using the Fo-
lin–Ciocalteu colorimetric method as described by A-
marowicz et al. (2004). Plant extracts (20 lL) were
mixed in a test tube with 0.2 mL of Folin–Ciocalteu
reagent and 2 mL of distilled water and incubated at
room temperature for 3 min. Following this, 1 mL of
ð2Þ 20% sodium carbonate was added to the mixture and
reincubated for 2 h at room temperature. The absor-
bance of the resulting blue colour was measured
using a quartz curve at 765 nm. Gallic acid was used
as standard, and total phenols were expressed as
gram gallic acid equivalents (GAEs) per 100 g of dry
basis.
The ability of dried onion extracts to scavenge the
DPPH radical was measured using the method of Sun
et al. (2005) with some modifications. In brief, 0.3 mL
of radical DPPH 10 mM solution, 2.4 mL of ethanol
at 99% and 0.3 mL of the sample extract were mixed
rigorously and quickly. The scavenging capacity was
evaluated by spectrophotometry at 517 nm. The per-
centage of inhibition was calculated using the follow-
ing equation:
DPPH ð%Þ ¼ ½ðODcontrol
ODassay Þ=ðODcontrol Þ  100
A calibration curve of percentage inhibition versus
quercetin concentration was plotted using quercetin
standard solutions (2.0 mM, 1.25 mM, 1.0 mM,
0.75 mM, 0.50 mM). Based on the calibration curve,
the DPPH scavenging activity was expressed as g
equivalent quercetin per 100 g dry basis.
© 2013 The Authors

Statistical analysis
All measurements were performed in triplicate, and
the results were presented as average  standard devi-
ation. Multiple ANOVA with interaction was carried out
on the results obtained to evaluate the effect of variety,
water activity and the drying temperature using the
Statgraphics for windows Plus 5.0 software. The differ-
ence between means was detected using the multiple
comparison test of Duncan at 5% level of significance.
Results and discussion
Effect of temperature
Experimental results of the moisture desorption iso-
therms of the two varieties, namely Goudami and Gal-
mi Violet, obtained at 30, 45 and 60 °C are shown in
Figs S1 and S2, respectively. The desorption isotherms
followed a sigmoid curve and were of type II accord-
ing to Van der Waals classification (Rizvi, 1986),
which is typical for many agricultural products (Bizot,
1983; Saravacos, 1986). Similar observations have been
made by Carolina et al. (2013) on unpeeled banana
flour from Brazil, and these are characteristics of foods
rich in carbohydrate. The curves show that the EMC
varied not only as a function of water activity, but
also with temperature. Generally, the lower EMC
would be at high temperature. The effect of tempera-
ture on EMC increases in excitation states of water
molecules with increase in temperature. However, the
high temperature increased the distance between water
molecules and decreased attractive forces between
them. This status contributed to decrease in moisture
content at a given water activity with increased tem-
perature (Neila et al., 2008). In the same vein, Bup
et al. (2012) have illustrated on shea nut (Vitellaria
paradoxa Gaertn) kernels from Cameroun that with an
increase in temperature, Van der Waals forces of
attraction become predominant, thereby facilitating
the desorption processes, as energy requirements to
break these forces of attraction between the adsorbate
and the adsorbent became lower, leading to the lower
EMC. Van der Waals forces are weaker compared
with other intermolecular forces such as hydrogen
bonding.
Influence of variety
Figure S3a–c shows the influence of the variety of
onion on the isotherms. It also demonstrates that the
EMC of the Galmi Violet onion was higher than that
of the Goudami, irrespective of the temperature. The
observed difference may probably reflect the difference
in the chemical composition of the onions and the dry
matter, which is higher for the variety Galmi Violet
© 2013 The Authors
International Journal of Food Science and Technology © 2013 Institute of Food Science and Technology
Desorption isotherms of two onion varieties A. A. Bouba et al. 447
(Houmbak et al., 2010). Usually the high ability of
water absorption is due to the presence of more hydro-
philic groups (NH3, COO-, OH), which strongly bind
water molecules (Watt, 1983; Blond & Le Meste,
1988). The ability of water absorption also reflects the
physiological behaviour of plant, which in this case
would allow Galmi Violet to grow in humid areas bet-
ter than Goudami variety. The field information
revealed that while Galmi Violet was adapted to rainy
season, Goudami was a dry season variety.
Modelling equations
Table S3 shows the results of the parameter values
obtained from the desorption isotherm after modelling
for the two onion varieties at 30 °C, 45 °C and 60 °C.
The GAB equation gave the smaller mean relative per-
centage deviation, P (%), for the two varieties. At the
same time, the determination coefficient (R2) for the
GAB models was the highest. The GAB equation gave
the best fit of the experimental data in the water activ-
ity range 5.5% to 83.6%. This can be also visualised
from the fitting curves in Fig. S4, which presents an
example of the comparison of the experimental results
with the theoretical results for desorption at 30 °C for
Goudami variety. Others are not shown because similar
trends were observed for different treatments and vari-
eties. On this basis, GAB model’s parameters could be
recommended for the prediction of desorption iso-
therms of onion varieties under the temperature and
water activity investigated. To the best of our knowl-
edge, this is the first time that the isotherms of the
varieties are determined. Based on these models, the
monolayer moisture content (M0) derived from either
the BET or the GAB models were shown to be much
closer. It was equally observed that the Mo was con-
siderably decreased with the increased temperature,
which was high for Galmi Violet variety in accordance
with the observation made on the EMC. The Mo of
GAB model also varied from 7.82% to 11.89% for
Goudami variety and from 9.63% to 12.55% for Galmi
Violet variety. Meanwhile, those from BET equation
varied from 8.33% to 12.19% for Goudami variety and
from 9.90% to 13.51% for Galmi Violet variety, and
the decrease in MMC with increase in temperature
was reported for the other food materials by several
researchers (Zhengyong et al., 2008; Prado & Sartori,
2009; Zaihan et al., 2009; Said et al., 2012). An expla-
nation for this behaviour might to be the reduction in
the number of active sites for water binding as a result
of physicochemical changes induced by temperature
(Prado & Sartori, 2009). On the proximity of Mo, the
constant C derived from the BET equation has also
been demonstrated to categorise the ability of food
materials to water absorption with the values greater
than 10, suggesting a high affinity of onion bulb to
International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2014
448 Desorption isotherms of two onion varieties A. A. Bouba et al.
absorb water (Magda et al., 2006). In this view, the
entire onion bulb of Galmi Violet variety exhibited
higher ability for water absorption compared with
Goudami. Monolayer moisture contents are very
important in food technology because they define
moisture contents suitable for food storage without
risk of deterioration. In this work, M0 values for the
two varieties of onions at all temperatures corre-
sponded to aw values <0.2. This has high technological
significance because when a commodity is stored at or
below its critical moisture content, significant degrada-
tion of quality can be prevented. EMC at water activ-
ity of 0.65 defines the critical moisture content below
which food materials are stored without significant risk
of spoilage (Navarro and Donahaye, 2005 in Bup
et al., 2013).
Heat of desorption
The net isosteric heat of sorption can be used to
estimate the energy required to allow water molecules
to break away from the solid surface during dehydra-
tion. The moisture content at which the net isosteric
heat of sorption approaches the latent heat of vapori-
sation of water is often taken as an indication of the
amount of bound water existing in the food (Sharma
et al., 2009 in Ala’a et al., 2010).
The values of the isosteric heat of sorption were cal-
culated from the equilibrium moisture content at dif-
ferent temperatures with different moisture contents.
Figure S5 shows the variation in the net heats of the
sorption as a function of moisture content at 30 °C,
45 °C and 60 °C and the corresponding prediction
curves. The moisture content varied from 13% to
58.5% for the Goudami and from 14% to 56% for
Galmi Violet varieties. It was observed that the curve
can be divided into three parts, namely moisture con-
tent lower than 21% (however, an increase in the
moisture content was associated with a drastic
decrease in the net isosteric heat of desorption); mois-
ture content higher than 39% (with a little change in
heat of desorption affecting the moisture content); and
moisture content between 21% and 39% (the interme-
diary part). Generally, the net isosteric heats of sorp-
tion were high at low moisture contents, irrespective of
the onion variety. Similar trends for many plant and
food materials have been reported in the literature: for
example, the works of Moreira et al. (2010) on chest-
nut and wheat flours from Spain, Bup et al. (2012) on
shea nut (Vitellaria paradoxa Gaertn) from Cameroon,
Hamid (2010) on canola from Iran. This reflects the
water binding strength and initial occupation of highly
active polar sites to form a surface monolayer, fol-
lowed by the progressive filling of the less available
sites (with lower bonding activation energies) (Ala’a
et al., 2010). At moisture content lower than 21%, the
International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2014
International Journal of Food Science and Technology © 2013 Institute of Food Science and Technology
Galmi Violet showed a higher desorption energy level
compared with that of the Goudami. At intermediary
moisture, Goudami variety seemed to exhibit higher
sorption energy, while no significant difference was
observed between both varieties at moisture higher
than 39%. Such variations highlighted the difference
in the association of water molecules to structural
components in the bulb structure. At higher moisture
content (>39%), water molecules were in the conden-
sation region where they acted as free solvents. It was
easily extracted from the bulb at low energy. In this
condition, the extraction of water molecule did not
vary with the variety. At low moisture content, water
molecules were highly bound to the polar site of dry
matter. More probably, the highly polar sites of Galmi
Violet would attract more water molecules. This mois-
ture content interval was such that beyond 21% water
layers were free water and exhibited weak heat of
sorption. At the same time, the polar sites of the
Goudami variety would progressively attract water
molecules so as to increase the sorption heat more
than that of Galmi Violet after 21%. The maximum net
isosteric heat was observed in the moisture content
range from 0% to 14% with the Galmi Violet variety
exhibiting the highest value (32.58 kJ mol
1), while the
Goudami variety had the lowest value (23.50 kJ mol
1).
Sigma-plot (version 11.0 software) was used to fit
the experimental data of heats of sorption. Reverse
third-order polynomial function gave a satisfactory
prediction of heat of desorption (Qs) values as a func-
tion of water content (M) for the Goudami variety
(eqn 3) and Galmi Violet variety (eqn 4) data, each
with a determination coefficient R2 = 0.99.
764:29 16859:44 162159:97
Qs ¼
9:37 þ
þ ð3Þ
M M2 M3
1082:85 31347:54 347743:49
Qs ¼
11:58 þ
þ ð4Þ
M M2 M3
Antioxidant activity
Tables S4 and S5 present the variation in total po-
lyphenols and ferric and DPPH reducing effects of the
slices of two onion varieties as influenced by water
activity and temperature. As expected, the total phe-
nolic content significantly increased with increased
moisture content. In addition, the total phenols con-
tent decreased with increase in temperature from 30°C
to 60°C. Change in total phenol content could be
attributed to the enzymatic activity that could have
taking place in the bulb. According to Labuza (1984),
the enzymatic oxidation of polyphenols increased with
water activity. This concept seems to be validated in
this work with values ranging from 0.31  0.03 g (aw
0.055) to 1.16  0.02 g gallic acid per 100 g d.b (aw
© 2013 The Authors

0.836) for Galmi Violet variety and from 0.28  0.03 g
(aw 0.055) to 1.51  0.06 g gallic acid per 100 g d.b
(aw 0.836) for Goudami variety. It is important to
mention that onion bulbs are also consumed for their
antioxidant properties. Tables S4 and S5 show that
the remaining levels of TPC after drying at 45 °C and
60 °C are 78.94% and 49.12%, respectively, for the
Goudami variety. Corresponding values for Galmi vio-
let variety are 84%, 12% and 59.62%. With regard to
the content of FRAP and DPPH, trends are similar to
that of TPC. It is also observed from Tables S4 and
S5 that FRAP still retains an after drying of 72.22%
and 50% and 52% and 36% at 45 and 60 °C, respec-
tively, for Goudami and Galmi violet varieties. Con-
cerning the DPPH, we note the activity of 33.33% for
the same temperatures for the Goudami variety and
37.78% and 25% at 45 and 60 °C, respectively, for
the variety Galmi Violet. This indicates that drying
had a negative impact on the antioxidant activity of
two onion varieties. However, it has been demon-
strated that tomato drying at 42 °C significantly
reduced its antioxidant contents (Toor and Savage,
2006) and that shea nut (Vitellaria paradoxa Gaertn)
from Cameroon drying at different temperatures
reduce considerably its tocopherol, which has an anti-
oxidant activity (Bup et al., 2011). The effect of tem-
perature was not important as that of aw on the
phenol content, but it probably reflected the effect of
temperature on the activity of enzymes involved in
phenol oxidation. Generally, the high temperature
tends to destroy the enzymes and reduce their activity
(Cheftel & Cheftel, 1977). In this respect, temperatures
of 45 °C and 60 °C seemed to be detrimental to oxi-
dative enzymes in onion bulbs. The negative effect of
temperature on phenol content of onion slices was
reported in earlier studies (Akyıldız et al., 2004; Zano-
elo et al., 2006). Some authors reported an increase in
phenol content with increased temperature as a result
of the liberation of phenolic compounds from the
matrix during the drying process. Comparatively, the
varieties exhibited different levels in phenols with sig-
nificant interaction with temperature and water activ-
ity. There are many different values for the phenolic
content of onion, which have been reported in previ-
ous studies. Bajaj et al. (1980) reported that the phe-
nol contents of onion samples varied between 1.85
and 2.95 g per 100 g dry matter. Arslan & Ozcan
(2010) reported that the phenolic content ranged
between 0.472 and 1.66 g per 100 g dry matter. The
phenol contents of the dry onion in this study were
closer to these values, but were significantly higher
than the values reported by Santas et al. (2008) in
Spanish onion varieties. The total phenol contents
have always been associated with the antioxidant
activity (Abdou Bouba et al., 2010, 2012). In this
study, we observed a significant correlation between
© 2013 The Authors
International Journal of Food Science and Technology © 2013 Institute of Food Science and Technology
Desorption isotherms of two onion varieties A. A. Bouba et al. 449
the phenol content and the FRAP (r2 = 0.96; P < 0.05
for 30 °C, r2 = 0.92; P < 0.05 for 45 °C and 60 °C) or
DPPH reducing power (r2 = 0.98; P < 0.05 for 30 °C;
r2 = 0.97; P < 0.05 for 45 °C; r2 = 0.96; P < 0.05 for
60 °C). The significant (P < 0.01) positive and linear
correlations observed between the phenol content
and the antioxidant activities highlighted the role of
phenols in the antioxidant activity of plant extracts.
The polyphenols present in fruits and vegetables like
onions are potent antioxidants, and several authors
have correlated the antioxidant activities of vegetables
with their total phenol compound contents (Anna
et al., 2003; Amarowicz et al., 2004; Ramandeep &
Geoffrey, 2006; Santas et al., 2008; Abdou Bouba
et al., 2010, 2012). In addition, numerous epidemio-
logical and intervention studies suggested the correla-
tion between consumption of polyphenol-rich foods or
beverages and the prevention of certain stress-induced
chronic diseases such as cancers, neurodegenerative
disorders, cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes,
or side effects of ageing (Arts & Hollman, 2005).
Furthermore, the positive and significant correlation
coefficient was observed between the moisture content
and TPC (r2 = 0.959, P ≤ 0.05). Generally the FRAP
oscillated from 0.09  0.02 g to 1.17  0.04 g ascor-
bic acid per 100 g d.b for Galmi Violet and from
0.09  0.01 g to 1.01  0.03 g ascorbic acid per 100 g
d.b for Goudami. In addition, the DPPH reducing
power was found between 0.02 g and 0.543  0.03 g
quercetin per 100 g d.b for Galmi Violet and between
0.01 g and 0.471  0.03 quercetin per 100 g d.b for
Goudami. DPPH reducing power and FRAP were sig-
nificantly low at high temperature and increased with
a decrease in temperature. In addition, the antioxidant
activities were significantly higher for Galmi Violet
onions and lower for Goudami variety. This difference
in the activities of these varieties could be a reflection
of their high levels of phenols as evident from its vio-
let colour. Drying onions resulted in significant losses
in FRAP and DPPH reducing power for the two vari-
eties. A decline in total phenol content during dehy-
dration was likely to be responsible for the observed
decrease in antioxidant activity (FRAP, DPPH reduc-
ing power) of dried onions. It should be noted, how-
ever that, the dried samples still contain significant
amounts of antioxidant activity despite the negative
effect of drying.
Conclusion
Moisture sorption isotherms and the combined effect
of temperature and water activity on the antioxidant
activity of Goudami and Galmi Violet onion varieties
were studied. The EMC of the Galmi Violet onion
variety is significantly higher than that of the Goudami
variety, irrespective of the temperature and water
International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2014
450 Desorption isotherms of two onion varieties A. A. Bouba et al.
activity. Among the models tested, the GAB equation
best described the sorption data of the two varieties of
onion. The monomolecular moisture content, Mo, the
moisture level below which enzymatic and physico-
chemical degradations reduced, was in a general man-
ner lower for the Goudami onion variety compared
with Galmi Violet. These Mos were equally found
good for storage as they corresponded to water activ-
ity values <0.65 generally recommended for storage.
But it was significantly increased with the increase in
temperature. Total phenolic content and antioxidant
activity of these onion varieties decreased significantly
with temperature. The monomolecular moisture con-
tent, phenols and in vitro antioxidant activities were
two to three times lower than the values in fresh onion
(high water activity).
Acknowledgments
The authors thank the French cooperation (SCAC)
which, through a postdoctoral scholarship awarded
to Abdou Bouba Armand, facilitated the carrying
out of the study in Laboratory of Biomolecular
Engineering, ENSAIA, INPL, Lorraine University,
Nancy, France.
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Supporting Information
Additional Supporting Information may be found in
the online version of this article:
Table S1. Water activity values of the saturated salt
solutions at the used temperatures.
Table S2. Equations used to describe the desorption
equilibrium isotherms.
Table S3. Estimated parameters and fitting criteria
of the models applied to the experimental desorption
data for Goudami and Galmi Violet onion varieties.
International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2014
International Journal of Food Science and Technology © 2013 Institute of Food Science and Technology
Table S4. Effect of temperature and water activities
on the moisture content and antioxidant activity of a
dried Goudami extracts*.
Table S5. Effect of temperature and water activity
on the moisture content and antioxidant activity of a
dried Galmi Violet extracts*.
Figure S1. Desorption of the isotherms of Goudami
onion variety at different temperatures.
Figure S2. Desorption of the isotherms of Galmi
Violet onion variety at different temperatures.
Figure S3. (a) Desorption of the isotherms of Goud-
ami and Galmi Violet onion varieties at 30 °C. (b)
Desorption of the isotherms of Goudami and Galmi
Violet onion varieties at 45 °C. (c) Desorption of the
isotherms of Goudami and Galmi Violet onion varieties
at 60 °C.
Figure S4. Comparison of the experimental and pre-
dicted desorption for the equilibrium moisture con-
tents of the Goudami variety at 30 °C.
Figure S5. Variation in the net isosteric heat for
Goudami and Galmi Violet onion varieties at 30 and
60 °C.
© 2013 The Authors