Drying and rehydration behaviors of green bell peppers

In this study, the drying behaviors of green bell peppers were examined in convection dryer. The study was carried out for 3 drying temperatures (55, 65, and 75°C) and for pre-treated samples with ethyl oleate solution against control samples. The pre-treated samples dried faster than the control ones. Drying time decreased with an increase of drying temperature. Rehydration ratio of the pre-treated samples was higher than control samples. Moisture transfer from green bell peppers was described by applying the Fick’s diffusion model and the effective moisture diffusivity (D _eff ) was calculated. The D _eff values for pre-treated and control samples varied between 0.705 and 2.618×10⁻⁹ m²/sec. Activation energy values for moisture diffusion ranged from 41.67 and 52.99 kJ/mol. Drying data was fitted to 4 thin-layer drying models, namely, Lewis, Henderson and Pabis, logarithmic, and Page. The best model, which best represented the green bell peppers drying, was logarithmic.     

Comparison of Freeze-Drying and Freeze-Drying Combined with Microwave Vacuum Drying Methods on Drying Kinetics and Rehydration Characteristics of Button Mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) Slices

Button mushroom slices were dried using freeze-drying (FD) and freeze-drying combined with microwave vacuum drying (FD?+?MVD) methods. Drying parameters including drying temperatures (20, 30, and 40 °C), chamber pressures (70, 100, and 130 Pa) and material layer thicknesses (single, double, and triple) during FD process, and microwave power densities (20, 40, and 60 W/g) and material layer thicknesses (single, double and triple) during MVD period of FD?+?MVD process, were investigated for their drying characteristics. The FD and FD?+?MVD products were then rehydrated at two temperatures (20 and 70 °C). Different mathematical models were tested with the drying and rehydration behaviors of button mushroom slices, and the effective diffusivities (D _eff) in the FD and FD?+?MVD processes were also calculated. The results indicated that based on the statistical tests, the Page model and logarithmic model provided the best fit for FD (in both FD and FD?+?MVD processes) and MVD (in FD?+?MVD process) curves, respectively. The regression equations obtained from selected models can accurately predict the relationships between moisture ratio (MR) and time (t). Furthermore, the D _eff values of the MVD period in FD?+?MVD process (2.318–5.565?×?10^?5 m²/s) were about ten times greater than those in FD process (1.291–3.389?×?10^?6 m²/s). In addition, the Peleg model gave a better fit for rehydration conditions applied in both FD and FD?+?MVD products. The values of equilibrium moisture content (W _e) of FD?+?MVD products were almost similar to those of FD products, which indicated that the rehydration capacities of the two dehydrated products were comparable.     

Drying kinetics and effective moisture diffusivity of bamboo shoot slices undergoing microwave drying

Effect of microwave power on moisture content, moisture ratio, drying rate, drying time and effective moisture diffusivity (D_eff) of bamboo shoot was investigated using microwave drying. To study the effect of microwave power on drying, bamboo shoot samples (250 g) were dried at different power levels ranging from 140 to 350 W. To determine the kinetic parameters, drying data were fitted to various models based on the ratios of differences between initial and final moisture contents and equilibrium moisture content. Among the models proposed, Wang and Singh model gave a better fit for all drying conditions used. By increasing microwave output power, the D_eff values increased from 4.153 × 10^?10 to 22.835 × 10^?10 m² s^?1. A third‐order polynomial relationship was found to correlate the D_eff with moisture content. Further scope of this research work would include the effect of certain factors (shrinkage, case hardening, distortion of product and shape of bamboo shoot samples as an infinite slab) of practical significance to improve the model.     

Study on kinetics of flow characteristics in hot air drying of pineapple

The aim was to evaluate the kinetic parameters, total color differences (?E*) and browning index differences (?BI) of air flow pineapple drying. The experiments were performed on air temperatures at 60 and 70 °C, and air velocities at 1.5 and 2.0 m/s. The kinetic parameter (k) increased when air temperature was increased for all air velocity. The effective diffusivity coefficient (D_eff) increased as high as the temperature of the heating medium. The variation of D_eff of swirling flow was ranging from 6.72?×?10^?9 to 10.23?×?10^?9 m²/s, while the variation of D_eff of non-swirling flow was ranging from 6.40?×?10^?9 to 9.42?×?10^?9 m²/s. The drying time of swirling flow was shorter than non-swirling flow in each drying condition. Moreover, the ?E* and ?BI of pineapple in swirling flow were lower than that obtained from non-swirling flow. Therefore, the convective drying using swirling flow can be minimized for drying time and color deterioration.     

Mathematical modelling of hot air drying of sweet potato slices

The effect of air dry bulb temperature, air relative humidity, air velocity and sample thickness on the thin-layer air drying of sweet potato slices was investigated. The drying rate curves consisted of two approximately linear falling rate periods and contained no constant rate period. Several mathematical models were fitted to the drying rates of sweet potato slices under a range of drying conditions. It was found that the modified Page equation best described the thin-layer air drying of sweet potato slices down to a moisture content of 10% dry basis. Correlations were also determined for the slope and intercept of the modified Page equation in terms of the experimental variables.     

Thin Layer Drying of African Breadfruit (Treculia africana) Seeds: Modeling and Rehydration Capacity

African breadfruit (ABF) seeds are underutilized plant resources, which have been reported to have high potential for novel food and industrial uses. The kinetics of moisture removal during air drying of the whole (WS) and dehulled (DS) seeds was studied at temperatures of 40–70 °C. Five empirical models were tested for predicting the experimental data. Drying of ABF seeds followed an exponential decay pattern, while drying predominantly took place during the falling rate periods. All the drying models predicted the experimental data above 90% accuracy while the Henderson–Pabis model gave the best fit (0.95 < r ² < 0.99) at most of the experimental conditions. Effective moisture diffusivity, D _eff, ranged from 3.65 to 7.15 × 10⁻⁹ m²/s and 3.95 to 6.10 × 10⁻⁹ m²/s for WS and DS, respectively. D _eff showed significant dependence on the moisture content (p < 0.01). Rehydration capacity of DS was not significantly affected by drying temperature while that of WS increased with drying temperature.     

Evaluation of Mathematical Models for Prediction of Thin-Layer Drying of Banana Slices

Drying characteristics of bananas were experimentally determined. The drying experiments were carried out in a hot air dryer at four inlet temperatures of 50, 60, 70 and 80°C, at a constant air velocity of 2.4 m/s and relative humidity of 4–25%. The experimental results were fitted to five thin-layer drying models and it was found that the Page and Logarithmic models gave better fit that the other models. Values of the effective diffusivity ranged from 7.374 × 10^?11 to 2.148 × 10^?10 m²/s. Activation energy for moisture diffusion of the banana slices was found to be 32.65 kJ/mol.     

Mathematical modeling of uvaia byproduct drying and evaluation of quality parameters

Uvaia (Eugenia pyriformis) frozen pulp processing generates a solid byproduct that can potentially contain important components of human nutrition. In this study, the drying of uvaia byproduct was studied. Two different drying treatments were tested: drying of wet waste and drying of waste with prior removal of water by centrifugation. Three drying temperatures were used: 40, 60, and 80 °C. Eight models were applied to fit the drying curves: Page, Lewis, Modified Page, Logarithmic, Midilli, Wang and Singh, Henderson and Pabis, and Weibull. Midilli presented an excellent fit to the curves. The effective moisture diffusivity of the uvaia byproduct ranged between 8.52 × 10^?10 and 3.22 × 10^?9 m²/s. The activation energy was 25.65 and 24.97 kJ/mol for non-centrifuged and centrifuged assays, respectively. The dried byproducts had a reduction of 3–21% of the total phenolic content against the control. The assay performed at 40 °C with centrifugation presented the lowest total color difference value.     

Evaluation of drying models of apple (var. McIntosh) dried in a convective dryer

Drying behaviour of apple particles was investigated in a laboratory type dryer. The effect of drying air temperature, airflow velocity, initial height of layer, particles shape and size on the dehydration characteristics of apples was investigated. Increase in drying air temperature and increase in the airflow velocity caused a decrease in the drying time and an increase in drying rate. Increase in initial height of layer and increase in the sample thickness caused an increase in the drying time and decrease in drying rate. Drying time of the cubes was shorter and their drying rate was higher than for slices. The experimental dehydration data of apple particles obtained were fitted to the semi‐theoretical, empirical and theoretical models. The accuracies of the models were measured using the correlation coefficient (R), mean bias error (MBE), root mean square error (RMSE), reduced chi‐square (χ²), and t‐statistic method. All models described the drying characteristics of apple particles satisfactorily (R > 0.9792). The Logarythmic model can be considered as the most appropriate (R > 0.9976, MBE = ?10^?11?4.5 × 10^?6, RMSE = 0.00287–0.01746, χ² = 8.5 × 10^?6?3.1 × 10^?4, t‐stat = 7.3 × 10^?9?1.2 × 10^?3). The effect of drying air temperature, airflow velocity, characteristic dimension of the particle and initial height of layer on the drying models parameters were also determined.     

Cold dryer as novel process for producing a minimally processed and dried meat

In this study, it was aimed to design a novel dryer that operates at low temperature (≤20 °C) for the production of a minimally processed and dried meat, and to determine the drying characteristics of this product. Beef slices loaded into this dryer were dried at different low temperatures (10, 15 and 20 °C) and air flow rates (1, 2, 3 and 4 m/s) after pasteurization. The drying time of slices was significantly influenced by the temperatures and air flow rates. The shortest drying time that pass until reaching the final water content (40%) was found in the slices subjected to a temperature of 10 °C and an air flow rate of 4 m/s. Nine kinetic models were selected to evaluate the moisture ratio data, with regard to adjusted regression coefficient (R²), the reduced chi-square (χ²) and root mean square error (RMSE). Page model exhibited the best fit (R² ≥ 0.9961; χ² ≤ 0.0002 and RMSE ≤ 0.0125). In addition, the effective moisture diffusivity (D_eff) and activation energy (E_a) values of slices were 7.13 × 10⁻¹⁰ m²/s and 44.96 kJ/mol, respectively. Consequently, the low drying temperature could shorten the drying time of beef because the driving force for mass transfer is supplied by the moisture difference between food and the air in the dryer.Industrial relevanceThe novel dryer could carry out minimal processing to the meat, provide food safety and perform drying in cold conditions (≤20 °C). Beef slices dried faster with a drying temperature of 10 °C and an air flow rate of 4 m/s in this dryer. Various dried products also could be obtained by cold drying method without the loss of their quality properties.     

Development of infrared-assisted hybrid solar dryer for drying pineapple slices: Investigation of drying characteristics,mass transfer parameters,and quality attributes

The research aims to the development and performance evaluation of an infrared-assisted hybrid solar dryer (IR-HSD) for drying pineapple slices. The IR-HSD contains an evacuated tube solar collector, blower assembly, drying chamber, infrared heater, phase change material (PCM) chamber, etc. The study investigates and compares the thermal profiling, drying kinetics, mass transfer parameters and quality attributes of pineapple slices dried using different methods, such as direct drying, phase change material (PCM)-assisted drying, PCM + IR-assisted drying, and sun drying. The average temperatures achieved inside the drying chamber for direct drying and PCM-assisted drying were 60.16 °C and 57.29 °C, respectively, while the temperature reached 60 °C for PCM + IR assisted drying. The average drying rate in PCM + IR drying was higher than in direct and PCM-assisted drying methods. The best-fitting models were the Modified Page model for direct and PCM + IR-assisted drying and the Midilli-Kucuk model for PCM-assisted and sun drying. The higher effective moisture diffusivity for PCM + IR-assisted drying was 2.59 × 10⁻⁹ m²/s, followed by direct and PCM-assisted drying. Similarly, the convective mass transfer coefficient obtained was 1.085 × 10⁻⁷ m/s, 8.321 × 10⁻⁸ m/s, and 1.381 × 10⁻⁷ m/s for direct, PCM-assisted, and PCM + IR-assisted drying, respectively. The superior quality attributes such as total flavonoid content (TFC), total phenolic content (TPC), and antioxidant activity were observed in all drying approaches with retention of colour except open sun drying, which decreased significantly. FTIR spectroscopy analysis confirmed the presence of different bioactive, including aromatic compounds, phenols and hydrocarbon functional groups. The infrared-assisted hybrid solar drying of pineapple slices showed a better drying process and quality attributes.     

Characteristics of Convective Drying of Pepino Fruit (Solanum muricatum Ait.): Application of Weibull Distribution

The aim of this research was to study the behaviour of the drying kinetics of pepino fruit (Solanum muricatum Ait.) at five temperatures (50, 60, 70, 80 and 90 °C). In addition, desorption isotherms were determined at 20, 40 and 60 °C over a water activity range from 0.10 to 0.90. The Guggenheim, Anderson and de Boer model was suitable to depict the desorption data. A monolayer moisture content from 0.10 to 0.14 g water g⁻¹ d.m. was reported. The equations of Newton, Henderson–Pabis, Modified Page, Wang–Singh, Modified Henderson–Pabis, Logarithmic as well as standardised Weibull were tested for modelling drying kinetics. Besides, Fick’s second law model was used to calculate the water diffusion coefficient which increased with temperature from 2.55 to 7.29 × 10⁻¹⁰ m² s⁻¹, with estimated activation energy of 27.11 kJ mol⁻¹. The goodness of fit of the models was evaluated using sum squared error and chi-square statistical tests. The comparison of the experimental moisture values with respect to the calculated values showed that the standardised Weibull model presented the best goodness of fit, showing that this equation is very accurate for simulating drying kinetics for further optimisation of drying times.     

糖渍甘薯热风干燥特性及数学模型研究

研究不同糖渍质量分数(10%、15%、20%、30%、40%、50%、70%)浸渍条件下熟化甘薯的热风干燥特性及对有效水分扩散系数(Deff)的影响。比较Newton、Page和Henderson and Pabis 3种模型在糖渍甘薯热风干燥中的适用性,结果表明：Page模型(MR＝exp(－ktn),其中,MR为水分比;k、n为模型参数;t为时间)显示最佳的拟合效果,其中Page模型参数k与糖度c成线性关系,指数n与c基本无关,此时模型的判定系数R2为0.982。通过对不同糖度(c)条件下甘薯的(Deff)计算,表明Deff与c呈立方关系,拟合度为0.984。利用Arrhenius关系得到糖渍甘薯片和未糖渍甘薯片的指前因子(D0)和活化能(Ea),结果表明,糖渍甘薯片的D0(6.66×10-8m2/s)和Ea(12.423kJ/mol)均低于未经糖渍预处理的甘薯片的D0(9.69×10-4m2/s)和Ea(40.103kJ/mol)。     

Experimental study on drying of pear slices in a convective dryer

The experiments were conducted on pear slices with thickness of 5 mm at temperatures of 50, 57, 64 and 71 °C with an air velocity of 2.0 m s^?1. Prior to drying, pear slices were pretreated with citric acid solution (0.5% w/w, 1 min, 20 °C) or blanched in hot water (1 min, 85 °C). Also, the untreated samples were dried as control. The shortest drying time of pear slices was obtained with pretreatment with citric acid solution. It was observed that whole drying process of pear slices took place in a falling rate period. Four mathematical models were tested to fit drying data of pear slices. According to the statistical criteria (R², χ² and RMSE), the Midilli et al. model was found to be the best model to describe the drying behaviour of pear slices. The effective diffusivity of moisture transfer during drying process varied between 8.56 × 10^?11 and 2.25 × 10^?10 m² s^?1, while the activation energy of moisture diffusion in pear slices was found to be 34.95–41.00 kJ mol^?1.     

Water Diffusivity and Color of Cactus Pear Fruits (Opuntia Ficus Indica) Subjected to Osmotic Dehydration

This paper details the results of a series of tests whose main purpose was to determinate how osmotic drying influences both water loss and color retention in cactus pear fruits. The dehydration process was performed using a 3² experimental design which involved three different sugar concentration levels (40, 50, and 608Brix) and three different temperatures (25, 40, and 558C). A product/solution ratio of 1/15, cactus pear cylindrical slices 5 mm thick, and ten-hour immersion time spans were used for all the experiments. Modeling of the drying curves was done with Fick's second law and Page's equation, which were used to calculate water effective diffusivity (D_e), drying constant (k), and the b values respectively. The color parameters (L*, a*, b*) of the samples were measured before and after each test to evaluate total color change (ΔE). An analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that water diffusivity and Page's parameter b were affected by temperature and sugar concentration while the drying constant (k) was independent of the drying conditions. The total color change was affected only by the temperature. D_e and b values varied from 4.06×10^?11 to 2.95×10^?10 m²/s, and from 0.453 to 0.861 respectively. The best color retention was obtained at 25°C independent of the sugar concentration.     

熟化甘薯片微波干燥特性及其动力学模型

为了探索熟化甘薯片微波干燥特性,提高熟化甘薯片干制品质及干燥效率,研究不同微波功率、装载量与切片厚度对于熟化甘薯片微波干燥特性及能耗的影响,对熟化甘薯片进行了微波干燥试验。结果表明:熟化甘薯片的微波干燥可分为加速、恒速和降速三个阶段。微波功率与加载量对熟化甘薯片的干燥影响较大,微波功率越大,装载量越小,熟化甘薯片的干燥速率越快,干燥时间越短。采用4种常见的薄层干燥模型对微波干燥过程进行拟合,结果表明Page模型是最适合描述熟化甘薯片微波干燥过程中水分变化规律的薄层干燥模型。在微波功率200~600 W,装载量200~400 g,切片厚度6~10 mm范围内,熟化甘薯片的微波干燥能耗为2.8235~5.6289 kJ/g。研究结果可为熟化甘薯片微波干燥工艺提供参考。     

Mathematical modeling of thin-layer drying kinetics and moisture diffusivity study of apple slices using infrared conveyor-belt dryer

The drying features of apples at different infrared drying settings were investigated. The drying time, moisture-effective diffusion, and activation energy of infrared dried apples were measured experimentally and statistically as a function of slice thicknesses, radiation intensity, and air velocity. The infrared intensity of 0.225, 0.130, and 0.341 W/cm², slice thicknesses of 6, 4, and 2 mm, and airflow of 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 m/s were used to dry apple slices. The data shows that the drying time reduced as IR increased, but airflow and slice thickness increased. Eight statistical factors were used to compare 11 alternative mathematical drying models. The experimentally acquired drying curves were matched to the thin-layer drying equations. According to the calculations, the Midilli et al. equation had the greatest (efficiency and R²) and lowest (χ², sum of squared errors, standard error of estimate, standard error, standard deviation of difference) values. As a result, this equation is the best for modeling the drying curves of apple slices across all drying circumstances. The optimum moisture diffusivity value varied from 2.59 to 9.07 × 10⁻¹⁰ m²/s. The mean activation energy was determined to be 19.02–29.83 kJ/mol under various experimental conditions.     

INFLUENCE OF SAMPLE SIZE AND SHAPE ON TRANSPORT PARAMETERS DURING DRYING OF SHRINKING BODIES

An experimental investigation on the influence of sample size and shape on heat and mass transport parameters under natural convection air‐drying is presented. Potato cylinders with length of 0.05 m and thicknesses of 0.005, 0.008, 0.010 and 0.016 m, and circular slices with diameter of 0.05 m and thickness of 0.01 m were dried in a laboratory scale hot‐air cabinet dryer. Results indicate that each transport parameter exhibits a linear relationship with sample thickness. Convective heat and mass transfer coefficients (h_cand h_m) decreased whereas moisture diffusion coefficient (D_eff) increased with increasing thickness. Considering no sample shrinkage effect in the parameter analysis, for the thickness range considered, the values of h_care found to be underestimated in the range of 29.0–30.6%, whereas those of h_mand D_eff are overestimated in the range of 33.7–38.0% and 75.9–128.1%, respectively. Using Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm for optimization, a correlation for Biot number for mass transfer (Bi_m) as a function of drying time and sample thickness is proposed. A close agreement was observed between dimensionless moisture contents predicted by this relation and those obtained from experiments for different sample thicknesses at drying air temperature of 60C. For the same thickness and drying conditions, circular slices caused an increase in each transport parameter significantly.     

Suitability of thin layer models for infrared-hot air-drying of onion slices

Onion slices were dried under different processing conditions applying infrared radiation assisted by hot air. Drying temperature, slice thickness, inlet air temperature and air velocity were varied to study the drying behavior. Thin layer models such as Page, modified Page, Fick's and Exponential models, which are used to describe the drying kinetics of food materials, were tested for the combination mode drying. The linear plots for Page and modified Page models gave a better fit (R²=0.980-0.995) over the other two models (R²=0.767-0.933). A combined regression equation developed to predict the drying parameters (k and n) for all the four models gave a fairly good fit (R²=0.852-0.989). The modified Page model gave better predictions for drying characteristics over the other models.     

Original article: Characterisation of water species revealed in the drying operation of Todarodes pacificus Steenstrup using water proton NMR analysis

For the discrimination of water molecules during the squid‐drying process, the water distribution was characterised by water proton NMR and moisture diffusivity (De) analysis methods as a function of the water content (W₀). The proton NMR spectrum showed three peaks indicating three different species (species‐A, ‐B, and ‐C) distributed in the squid muscle, each of which had a characteristic behaviour of the relaxation time (T₂) as a function of the W₀. The 1/T₂ of species‐A was drastically varied at W₀ = 120%‐d.b., indicating two further categories, i.e., species‐A₁ and ‐A₂. Species‐A₁ is available at W₀ > 120%‐d.b. and was characterised as having De = 5.1 × 10^?10 m² s^?1, activation energy of moisture diffusivity (E_D) = 17 kJ mol^?1, and relaxation rate 1/T₂ = 74 s^?1, as evaluated by the proton NMR spectrum without depending on W₀. Species‐A₂ is available at W₀ < 120%‐d.b., indicating a distribution of De = 4.8 × 10^?10–1.7 × 10^?10 m² s^?1, E_D = 25–35 kJ mol^?1 and 1/T₂ = 1.8 × 10³–1.5 × 10² s^?1 with increasing W₀. Species‐A₁ and ‐A₂ were assigned as weakly restricted water and strongly restricted water, respectively.