The protein enrichment of cactus pear through solid-state fermentation with the use of yeasts sought to increase the nutritional value of this forage so that it may be used as protein supplement for animal feed which may be offered either wet or dried and stored under appropriate conditions. The present work had its objective to study the adsorption isotherms of the protein enriched cactus pear, at temperatures of 30, 35 and 40 °C, to choose the mathematical model that best adjusted to experimental data and to determine the adsorption heat isosteric, looking for parameters for study of storage of this material. Starting from the obtained results, it was verified that the Henderson model was better if it was adjusted to experimental data adsorption isotherms at the three studied temperatures and that adsorption heat isosteric of studied product decreases with the increase of moisture content. For the storage of the enriched cactus pear it is necessary that the ideal range of activity of water should be between 0.25 - 0.35, which corresponds to moisture content (d.b.) smaller than 0.03, eliminating, this way, any growth of microorganisms.
water activity; solid state fermentation; yeast; Opuntia ficus-indica Mill
