EFFECT OF PRETREATMENT AND DRYING ON THE QUALITY OF OYSTER MUSHROOMS (PLEUROTUS OSTREATUS)

Fruiting bodies of oyster mushroom were dried by hot-air drying, vacuum-drying and freeze-drying in order to compare food qualities after drying. Prior to drying, mushrooms were subjected to blanching or dipping in sodium metabisulphite solution (1 or 5 g/L), or dipping in citric acid solution (1 or 5 g/L). Drying of raw mushrooms was taken as a control. Blanching reduced the attractiveness of dry mushrooms; sodium metabisulphite improved it. It has been found that pretreatment and drying method affect the course and rate of drying. Samples subjected to hot-air drying and vacuum-drying were darker than those freeze-dried, which were clearly more attractive. The hot-air and vacuum-dried mushrooms on rehydration were inferior in quality to the freeze-dried samples. Flavor of the freeze-dried mushroom was not significantly different from that of the hot-air dried mushrooms. Food quality of dried mushrooms depends significantly on the type of drier used.

     

EFFECT OF PRETREATMENT AND DRYING ON THE QUALITY OF OYSTER MUSHROOMS (PLEUROTUS OSTREATUS)

Fruiting bodies of oyster mushroom were dried by hot-air drying, vacuum-drying and freeze-drying in order to compare food qualities after drying. Prior to drying, mushrooms were subjected to blanching or dipping in sodium metabisulphite solution (1 or 5 g/L), or dipping in citric acid solution (1 or 5 g/L). Drying of raw mushrooms was taken as a control. Blanching reduced the attractiveness of dry mushrooms; sodium metabisulphite improved it. It has been found that pretreatment and drying method affect the course and rate of drying. Samples subjected to hot-air drying and vacuum-drying were darker than those freeze-dried, which were clearly more attractive. The hot-air and vacuum-dried mushrooms on rehydration were inferior in quality to the freeze-dried samples. Flavor of the freeze-dried mushroom was not significantly different from that of the hot-air dried mushrooms. Food quality of dried mushrooms depends significantly on the type of drier used.     

Artificial neural network approach for protection of the color of dried golden and pink oyster mushrooms with pretreatments

In this study, the possibilities of protecting the color of dried golden and pink mushrooms were investigated, and color parameters of dried mushrooms were modeled by artificial neural network (ANN). For this purpose, first, the golden oyster mushroom (Pleurotus citrinopileatus) and pink oyster mushroom (Pleurotus djamor) were cultivated. Then, pretreatments were applied using citric acid (CA) and potassium metabisulfite (KMS) with different rates (0.5%, 1.0%, and 1.5%) separately, excluding control group mushrooms. All mushrooms were dried for 330 minutes in a laboratory type oven at two different temperatures (40°C and 50°C) until completely dehydrated. Colorimetric values (L*, a*, and b*) were determined using Konica Minolta CM‐2600d spectrophotometer for 30 minute intervals during the drying process. The obtained data were modeled using the ANN technique. The results show that darkening of mushrooms increased as the drying temperature increased. CA and KMS showed better results for dried golden and pink mushrooms, respectively. Thanks to the pretreatment, the mushroom's original color was protected compared with control samples. All mean absolute percentage error values of models were determined, which were lower than 4.0%. It was concluded that ANN can be a good way to predict the color of dried golden and pink mushrooms (pretreated or not) with a high degree of accuracy.     

Optimization of microwave freeze drying strategy of mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus) based on porosity change behavior

ABSTRACT

For dehydrated foods, porosity is a crucial parameter which affects mass and heat transfers, and is related to the product quality. It is important to monitor porosity change behavior to optimize the drying process. To achieve faster drying along with high product quality, microwave freeze drying (MFD) was applied to mushrooms dehydration processing. The relationship between porosity (include total, open-, and closed-pore porosity) and dried mushroom qualities was studied, and a suitable microwave loading strategy was obtained. It was found that lots of open pores could transform to closed pores while the moisture content (MC) was below 0.25?±?0.05?g/g (db), and the closed-pore porosity was arrived at a relatively stable level at moisture content below 0.17?±?0.03?g/g (db). Both total porosity and closed-pore porosity had a significant influence (P?<?0.01) on texture of MFD mushroom, and open-pore porosity had a significant effect (P?<?0.01) on rehydration ratio of MFD mushroom. According to the porosity change behavior of mushrooms, a dynamic microwave loading strategy can be used to reduce drying time and keep product quality during MFD process.     

Effect of Fluidized Bed Drying Temperature on Various Quality Attributes of Paddy

Abstract

As reported by many researchers, it was found that fluidized bed paddy drying using high drying air temperatures of over 100°C affected the head rice yield and whiteness of dried rice. However, only a few studies on fluidized bed paddy drying with drying air temperatures below 100°C were so far reported. The main objective of this work was therefore to study the effect of fluidized bed drying air temperature on various quality parameters of Suphanburi 1 and Pathumthani 1 Indica rice. Paddy was dried from the initial moisture contents of 25.0, 28.8, and 32.5% dry basis to 22.5 ± 1.2% dry basis using inlet drying air temperatures between 40 and 150°C at 10°C/step. After fluidized bed drying, paddy was tempered and followed by ambient air aeration until its final moisture content was reduced to 16.3 ± 0.5% dry basis. The results showed that the head rice yield of Suphanburi 1 was significantly related to the inlet drying temperature and initial moisture content whilst there was no significant relationship between the head rice yield, drying temperature and initial moisture content for Pathumthani 1. The whiteness of the two rice varieties was slightly decreased with increase in drying air temperature and initial moisture content. It was also found that the hardness of both cooked rice varieties exhibited insignificant difference (p < 0.05) comparing to rewetted rice, which was gently dried by ambient air aeration in thin layer. The thermal analysis by DSC also showed that partial gelatinization occurred during drying at higher temperatures. Using inlet drying air temperatures in the range of 40–150°C therefore did not affected the quality of cooked rice and paddy. The milling quality of paddy was also well maintained.     

Drying of Inorganic Particulate Compounds

ABSTRACT

Inorganic particulates are usually dried in a fixed bed, fluidized bed, or spray dryers. These compounds are easy to dry, once their physical structure, with high porosity, allows moisture content removal with low resistances. For fluidized bed of alumina particle evaluations, a laboratory-scale drying unit was built. The drying experiments were carried out with alumina particles with different diameters to evaluate temperature and air flow rate effects on drying kinetics and bed height. In another case, the dehydration of a mixture of rare-earth chlorides in a fluidized bed was studied, aiming at the production of anhydrous rare-earth chlorides, used to obtain mischmetal by electrolytic and metallothermic processes. The spray drying experiments were carried out in a pilot plant. Spray drying is a technique largely applied in industrial processes to dry solutions or suspensions, converting their solid parts into a dried powder. A set of rare-earth drying experiments was carried out, aiming at the development of techniques to obtain a powder that could satisfy international morphological requirements. The results allowed evaluating the effects of air flow rate, feed concentration, atomizer model, rotation velocity, and atomization pressure on powder density and particle size distribution.     

Drying Behavior of Carrots Dried in a Spout–Fluidized Bed Dryer

The effect of water blanching treatment and the inlet air temperature on drying kinetics as well as the quality attributes of carrot cubes dried in a spout–fluidized bed dryer at 60, 70, 80, and 90°C were analyzed. The material shrinkage and the rehydration potential were calculated to assess the changes in quality of dried carrots. It was found that the value of the air velocity during the drying of carrot cubes in a spout–fluidized bed dryer should be related to the moisture content of the carrot particles. A high value of air velocity at the beginning of the drying cycle and a lower value for the later stages were also required. The linear equation was correlated to the data of shrinkage of raw and blanched carrots. Blanching significantly influenced the coefficients in the shrinkage model derived for drying of carrot cubes in a spout–fluidized bed dryer, while drying temperature did not influence the shrinkage of carrot particles. The intensity of heat and mass transfer during spout–fluidized drying of carrot cubes was dependent on the drying temperature. A correlation was developed to calculate the values of effective moisture diffusivity of dried carrot cubes as a function of the moisture content and temperature of the material. It was observed that for any given time of rehydration, both the moisture content and the rehydration ratio calculated for samples dried at 60°C were higher than for samples dried at temperatures of 60, 70, 80, and 90°C.     

The Effect of Glass Transition Temperature on the Procedure of Microwave–Freeze Drying of Mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus)

Freeze drying (FD) yields the best quality of dried mushroom but at the cost of a long drying time and high overall cost. Air drying (AD) gives an unacceptably poor quality product. To achieve faster drying along with a high-quality product, a microwave–freeze drying (MFD) technique was developed to dry mushrooms. The relationship between dried mushroom quality and the glass transition temperature during the MFD process was studied to optimize the MFD process. According to the change tendency of the glass transition temperature of mushroom during MFD, a step-down microwave loading scheme for the MFD process was developed to obtain good product quality.     

DRYTNG OF PEPPER SEEDS USING A COMBINED MICROWAVE/FLUIDIZED BED DRYER

Abstract

The drying rates curves in terms of moisture content versus elapsed drying time for white pepper seeds were obtained experimentally using a fluidized bed and a combined microwave/fluidized bed. The combined microwave/fluidized bed employs a microwave field to assist convective drying. For both procedures, the drying rates were found to be dependent on the inlet air temperature and velocity. Significantly improved drying rates were achieved utilized a combined microwave/fluidized bed drying compared with a conventional fluidized bed.     

Effects of freezing pretreatment and hygroscopicity of fluidizing particles on drying characteristics of carrots in fluidized bed under reduced pressure

Abstract

A method for low-temperature drying with high drying rate was developed for heat-sensitive foods and agricultural products. A freezing pretreatment was combined with fluidized bed drying under reduced pressure. Cylindrical carrot samples were frozen and then placed without thawing in a fluidized bed of hygroscopic porous silica gel particles that adsorbed water from the sample during the drying process. The effects of the freezing pretreatment and hygroscopicity of fluidizing particles on the drying characteristics of carrots were examined. A higher drying rate was achieved when carrots samples were subjected to freezing pretreatment than without it. At 12?kPa, the volume change was smaller in carrots subjected to freezing pretreatment than in untreated samples. A larger amount of water was absorbed during rehydration by carrots dried at 12?kPa than at 101?kPa within 120?min. The properties of dried carrots were affected not only by freezing pretreatment but also by the pressure applied during the drying process.     

Production of dried ivy gourd sheet as a health snack

Ivy gourd (Coccinia grandis) has recently been recognized as a rich source of β-carotene. To add value to the fresh leaves a process to produce dried ivy gourd sheet as a health snack was the aim of this study. The effects of pretreatment, i.e., blanching in NaCl solution (0-3% w/v), and drying methods, i.e., hot air drying and vacuum drying at 60-80 °C, on the drying characteristics and quality, viz. colour, texture and β-carotene content of dried ivy gourd sheet were investigated. The results showed that dried sheet pretreated by brine blanching and vacuum drying resulted in better retention of colour and β-carotene as well as texture of the dried sheet as compared to the dried untreated and dried water blanched samples. Higher drying temperature also resulted in higher β-carotene retention due to shorter drying time.     

Effects of High-Temperature Fluidized Bed Drying and Tempering on Kernel Cracking and Milling Quality of Vietnamese Rice Varieties

Studies on the effects of high-temperature fluidized bed drying and tempering on physical properties and milling quality of two long-grain freshly harvested Vietnamese rice varieties, A10 (32±1% wet basis moisture) and OM2717 (24.5±0.5% wet basis moisture), were undertaken. Rice samples were fluidized bed dried at 80 and 90°C for 2.5 and 3.0 min, then tempered at 75 and 86°C for up to 1 h, followed by final drying to below 14% moisture (wet basis) at 35°C by thin-layer drying method. Head rice yield significantly improved with extended tempering time to 40 min. Head rice yield tended to increase with decreasing cracked (fissured) kernels. The hardness and stiffness of sound fluidized bed dried rice kernels (in the range of 30–55 N and 162–168 N/mm, respectively) were higher than that of conventionally dried ones (thin layer dried at 35°C). The color of milled rice was significantly (P < 0.05) affected by high-temperature fluidized bed drying, but the absolute change in the value was very small.     

OSMO-CONVECTIVE DRYING OF GRAPES

ABSTRACT

In order to reduce browning of grapes during drying, a special drying method was developed and evaluated using a laboratory scale fluidized bed dryer. Fresh Thompson seedless grapes were initially dried by immersion in a fluidized bed of sugar. The mass ratio of grapes to sugar was 1:1. The flow rate of hot air (at 45 and 60^°C) was sufficient to fluidize the sugar bed, while grapes placed on the screen, 3 cm above the drying air distributor, remained generally stationary.

Due to the simultaneous osmotic and convection drying effects, the drying time was reduced by factor ～1.5 as compared to drying under the similar conditions without added sugar. A special pre-treatment of dipping of grapes in ethyl oleate (2% solution in 0.5% sodium hydroxide) at 80?deg; C for 30 s further reduced the drying time by factor 2 in both cases. The color of osmo-convective dried grapes were comparable to that of sulfur dioxide treated grapes. The texture of osmo-convective dried grapes was more pliable (softer) than convective dried samples. The major problem associated with die osmo-convective drying of grapes on a sugar bed was the stickiness, caused by sugar, on the fruit surface. This was reduced by partially substituting sugar with semolina (maintaining a 1:1 ratio) to create fluidized bed.     

Optimization of Fluidized Bed Drying Process of Green Peas Using Response Surface Methodology

The fluidized bed drying process of green peas was optimized using the response surface methodology for the process variables: drying air temperature (60–100°C), tempering time (0–60 min), pretreatment, and mass per unit area (6.3–9.5 g/cm²). The green peas were pretreated by pricking, hot water blanching, or chemical blanching. Product quality parameters such as rehydration ratio, color, texture, and appearance were determined and analyzed. Second-order polynomial equations, containing all the process variables, were used to model the measured process and product qualities. Rehydration ratio was influenced mostly by pretreatment followed by tempering time, temperature, and mass per unit area. Pretreatment and mass per unit area significantly affected color and texture. Higher levels of temperature and lower levels of tempering time and mass per unit area increased the rehydration ratio. The optimum process conditions were derived by using the contour plots on the rehydration ratio and sensory scores generated by the second-order polynomials. Optimum conditions of 79.4°C drying air temperature, 35.8-min tempering time, pretreatment of the once pricked peas with chemical blanching in a solution of 2.5% NaCl and 0.1% NaHCO₃, and mass per unit area of 6.8 g/cm² were recommended for the fluidized bed drying of green peas. At these conditions the rehydration ratio was 3.49.     

Fluidized Bed Drying of Aonla (Emblica officinalis)

In the present work an attempt has been made to study the dehydration of aonla (Indian gooseberry) fruits. Aonla fruits, being highly perishable, cannot be kept for long periods. Aonla contains a very high amount of vitamin C, which is highly volatile and susceptible to heat. Sun drying required the longest period of drying (660 min), while the shortest time of drying is with fluidized bed drying at 80°C with 115 m/min air velocity (120 min). The results indicate that there is great loss of most of the ascorbic acid in the aonla slices. This suggests that the drying exposure caused the loss of volatile biochemical compounds. The retention of ascorbic acid in the samples dried in fluidized bed drying is greater compared to those dried under sun and hot air tray.     

Fluidized Bed Drying of Aonla (Emblica officinalis)

In the present work an attempt has been made to study the dehydration of aonla (Indian gooseberry) fruits. Aonla fruits, being highly perishable, cannot be kept for long periods. Aonla contains a very high amount of vitamin C, which is highly volatile and susceptible to heat. Sun drying required the longest period of drying (660 min), while the shortest time of drying is with fluidized bed drying at 80°C with 115 m/min air velocity (120 min). The results indicate that there is great loss of most of the ascorbic acid in the aonla slices. This suggests that the drying exposure caused the loss of volatile biochemical compounds. The retention of ascorbic acid in the samples dried in fluidized bed drying is greater compared to those dried under sun and hot air tray.     

DRYING BEHAVIOR OF MUSHROOM SLICES

Drying of mushroom slices is an unsteady-state process under the control of diffusion race of water through the mushroom hyphae. Therefore, temperature, thickness of the mushroom slices and the ratio of the air film to mushroom resistance toward the diffusion of water control the drying rate. In this work, the initial thickness of mushroom slices was kept constant at 2 mm and the effects of structural parameters, temperature and humidity were investigated. Through the measurements of weight, center and surface temperatures of the mushrooms, and variation of the surface area, actual drying behavior of mushrooms under different dryer conditions were determined. Color of the dried mushroom slices were used as criteria for the evaluation and determination of the optimum conditions.     

DRYING BEHAVIOR OF MUSHROOM SLICES

Drying of mushroom slices is an unsteady-state process under the control of diffusion race of water through the mushroom hyphae. Therefore, temperature, thickness of the mushroom slices and the ratio of the air film to mushroom resistance toward the diffusion of water control the drying rate. In this work, the initial thickness of mushroom slices was kept constant at 2 mm and the effects of structural parameters, temperature and humidity were investigated. Through the measurements of weight, center and surface temperatures of the mushrooms, and variation of the surface area, actual drying behavior of mushrooms under different dryer conditions were determined. Color of the dried mushroom slices were used as criteria for the evaluation and determination of the optimum conditions.     

Usage of solar-assisted spouted bed drier in drying of pea

The main objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of solar-assisted spouted bed and open sun drying on the drying rate and quality parameters of pea. Color, shrinkage, bulk and apparent densities, internal and bulk porosities, rehydration capacity and microstructure were the quality parameters investigated in dried product.Drying rate for solar-assisted spouted bed was about 3.5 times of drying rate for open sun drying. Air temperature changed between 20 °C and 27.4 °C during open sun drying while temperature of air at the inlet of solar-assisted spouted bed dryer varied between 35.3 °C and 65.5 °C during the experiments. Effective diffusivities were found to be 0.64 × 10^?10 and 3.27 × 10^?10 m²/s for open sun and solar-assisted spouted bed drying of pea, respectively. In color analysis, it was observed that a* value increased while b* value decreased for both drying methods. Bulk density and apparent density of peas dried under open sun was higher than that in solar-assisted spouted bed drier. In both drying methods, internal and bulk porosities decreased. Shrinkage was more for open sun dried samples. Rehydration capacity for solar-assisted spouted bed dried sample was higher than the one for open sun dried.     

EFFECTS OF DRYING ON HEAD RICE YIELD USING FLUIDIZATION TECHNIQUE

ABSTRACT

Experimental results of fluidized bed paddy drying using high inlet air temperatures (140 and 150 °C) showed that head rice yield could be increased to a maximum value at a range of paddy final moisture contents of 19 to 22 % wet-basis. In case of reducing moisture content of paddy to lower than 19 % wet-basis, head rice yield of tempered paddy was higher than that of no-tempered one. Initial moisture contents of paddy that could increase head rice yield were in a range of 23 to 31 % wet-basis. As initial moisture content increased head rice yield increased. Whiteness of dried paddy was mostly accepted. However, if tempering temperature was higher than 60 °C, it may cause the problems for trade.