## 3 Results and Discussion
### Physicochemical Attributes of Spray-Dried Cashew Particles
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline
**Samples** & **C1** & **C2** & **C3** & **C4** \\ \hline Solids recovery, \% & 88.8 \(\pm\) 4.5 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 88.8 \(\pm\) 4.4 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 70.1 \(\pm\) 1.5 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 71.8 \(\pm\) 5.8 \({}^{\text{b}}\) \\ Average diameter, \(\upmu\)m & 17.9 \(\pm\) 0.4 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 15.1 \(\pm\) 0.1 \({}^{\text{c}}\) & 20.4 \(\pm\) 1.1 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 29.5 \(\pm\) 1.5 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\ Density, g cm\({}^{3}\) & 1.434 \(\pm\) 0.001 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 1.458 \(\pm\) 0.000 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 1.370 \(\pm\) 0.001 \({}^{\text{c}}\) & 1.374 \(\pm\) 0.001 \({}^{\text{d}}\) \\ \(a_{w}\) & 0.262 \(\pm\) 0.01 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 0.296 \(\pm\) 0.009 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 0.266 \(\pm\) 0.008 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 0.245 \(\pm\) 0.018 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\ pH & 4.2 \(\pm\) 0.0 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 4.3 \(\pm\) 0.0 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 4.2 \(\pm\) 0.0 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 4.2 \(\pm\) 0.0 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\ Solubility, \% & 97.1 \(\pm\) 0.5 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 95.5 \(\pm\) 1.0 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 94.9 \(\pm\) 0.5 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 97.5 \(\pm\) 0.9 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\ Hygroscopicity, \% & 7.4 \(\pm\) 0.4 \({}^{\text{ab}}\) & 7.5 \(\pm\) 0.2 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 6.0 \(\pm\) 0.4 \({}^{\text{c}}\) & 6.5 \(\pm\) 0.1 \({}^{\text{bc}}\) \\ \(\Delta\)E & 22.3 \(\pm\) 0.2 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 22.2 \(\pm\) 0.1 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 23.9 \(\pm\) 0.1 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 23.7 \(\pm\) 0.2 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\ BI, \% & 7.3 \(\pm\) 0.1 \({}^{\text{c}}\) & 7.7 \(\pm\) 0.0 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 7.7 \(\pm\) 0.0 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 8.1 \(\pm\) 0.2 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\ \hline \end{tabular} Results are shown as the average \(\pm\) standard deviation (\(m=3\)). Different letters (a, b, c, d) in the same line indicate statistical difference determined [PERSON]’s test (\(p<0.05\)). Legend: \(a_{w}\): water water activity, AE: total color difference; BI: browning index. Sample identification: C1: spray-dried cashew juice with 15% \(w/v\) GA, IT 140 \({}^{\circ}\)C; C2: spray-dried cashew juice with 15% \(w/v\) GA, IT 150 \({}^{\circ}\)C; C3: spray-dried cashew juice with 25% \(w/v\) GA, IT 140 \({}^{\circ}\)C; C4: spray-dried cashew juice with 25% \(w/v\) GA, IT 140 \({}^{\circ}\)C; C4: spray-dried cashew juice with 25% \(w/v\) GA, IT 150 \({}^{\circ}\)C. GA: gum arabic, IT: inlet temperature.  
\end{table} 
Table 1: Solids recovery, physicochemical properties, and color attributes of spray-dried cashew particles. The hygroscopity of spray-dried cashew particles ranged from 6.0% to 7.5% (Table 1), and it was not affected by the inlet temperature (\(p>0.05\)). Although particles obtained with higher GA concentrations (groups C3 and C4, 25% \(w/v\)) were less hygroscopic, all spray-dried cashew particles can be classified as non-hygroscopic (<10%) according to previously established classifications (hygroscopic: 15-20%; slightly hygroscopic: 10-15%; and non-hygroscopic: <10%) [53]. [PERSON] et al. [54] reported higher hygroscopicity for spray-dried guava particles obtained with maltodextrin (21.9-27.8%), but similarly observed that higher drying carrier concentrations led to lower hygroscopicity. It has been reported that hygroscopic behavior is influenced by physicochemical attributes such as composition and particle size [55]. We hypothesize that the lower hygroscopicity of spray-dried groups C3 and C4 might be attributed to the higher GA concentration (25% \(w/v\)), providing a higher glass transition temperature [41] and delivering spray-dried particles with a bigger average particle size, thus decreasing the overall surface area and, consequently, the hygroscopicity of the powdered matrices [55]. The concentration of GA influenced the total color difference \(\Delta\)E of spray-dried cashew particles (\(p<0.05\)). The results for \(\Delta\)E were in the range of 22.2-23.9 (Table 1), and for \(\Delta\)E > 5, color differences between the original solution and the final spray-dried particles are noticeable by the human eye [56].