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.     

热泵干燥可可豆品质的研究

本文主要针对热泵干燥在恒温和分段变温情况下对马来西亚可可豆品质的提高进行了研究。可可豆品质与热风干燥条件下的可可豆以及加纳可可豆和市售可可豆样本（马来西亚和印度尼西亚）进行比较。总体而雷,品质评估表明热泵干燥的可可豆品质比市售样品有明显的改善。就酸性程度和较高的褐变程度而雷,由逐步升温干燥所得的可可豆品质较高。热泵干燥样品的风味与加纳样品相当,优于市售样品。经逐步升温干燥制得的可可豆样品香味最浓,而且酸度、苦味和涩味适中。研究表明,使用热泵干燥对提高可可加工中可可豆的品质是可行的。     

Emerging food drying technologies with energy-saving characteristics: A review

Abstract

Drying is one of the most vital preservation techniques used in the food industry. It demands different levels of energy to produce commercially high-quality-dried food products. Novel drying technologies minimize deterioration of the food ingredients and produce novel products for consumers. In recent years, there have been many developments in the technology connected with the industrial drying of foods. Recent research has shown that novel food drying technologies could be utilized to improve the efficiency of drying by lowering the energy consumption and also to enhance the product quality. This article reviews selected energy- saving techniques in drying and discusses some novel combined drying technologies. These include solar-assisted, infrared-assisted, microwave-assisted and similar hybrid drying methods for food drying. Recommendations are also made for future research and development.     

Drying kinetics and product quality of green soybean under different microwave drying methods

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of different microwave drying techniques on the drying kinetics and product quality of dried green soybean. Experiments were conducted using microwave vacuum drying (MVD), pulse-spouted vacuum microwave drying (PSMVD), pulse-spouted microwave drying (PSMD), and microwave freeze drying (MFD). Parameters of apparent density, color, processing temperature, expansion ratio, rehydration ratio, texture, and microstructure of the dried products were determined. The results showed that the MFD green soybean had a small change on bright color, compared with the fresh samples, but the drying time was the longest among the four methods. The bright color value of PSMVD/PSMD/MVD, respectively, was 79.77, 71.43, and 55.45, and drying time of them was slightly different. The PSMVD/PSMD showed advantages over MVD by improving the product quality.     

SUPERHEATED STEAM IMPINGEMENT DRYING OF TORTILLA CHIPS

Low-fat snack products are the driving forces for the drying of tortilla chips before frying. Super-heated steam impingement drying of foods has the advantage of improved energy efficiency and product quality. The temperature profile, drying curves, and the physical properties (shrinkage, crispiness, starch gelatinization and microstructure) of tortilla chips dried at different superheated steam temperatures and heat transfer coefficients were measured. Results indicated that the steam temperature had a greater effect on the drying curve than the heat transfer coefficient within the range of study. The microstructure of the samples after steam drying showed that higher steam temperature resulted in more pores and coarser appearance. The modulus of deformation and the shrinkage of tortilla chips correlated with moisture content. A higher steam temperature caused less shrinkage and a higher modulus of deformation. The pasting properties showed that samples dried under a higher steam temperature and a higher heat transfer coefficient gelatinized less during drying and had a higher ability to absorb water. Comparison of the superheated steam drying and air drying revealed that at elevated temperatures the superheated steam provided higher drying rates. Furthermore, there was a less starch gelatinization associated with air drying compared to superheated steam drying.     

SUPERHEATED STEAM IMPINGEMENT DRYING OF TORTILLA CHIPS

ABSTRACT

Low-fat snack products are the driving forces for the drying of tortilla chips before frying. Super-heated steam impingement drying of foods has the advantage of improved energy efficiency and product quality. The temperature profile, drying curves, and the physical properties (shrinkage, crispiness, starch gelatinization and microstructure) of tortilla chips dried at different superheated steam temperatures and heat transfer coefficients were measured. Results indicated that the steam temperature had a greater effect on the drying curve than the heat transfer coefficient within the range of study. The microstructure of the samples after steam drying showed that higher steam temperature resulted in more pores and coarser appearance. The modulus of deformation and the shrinkage of tortilla chips correlated with moisture content. A higher steam temperature caused less shrinkage and a higher modulus of deformation. The pasting properties showed that samples dried under a higher steam temperature and a higher heat transfer coefficient gelatinized less during drying and had a higher ability to absorb water. Comparison of the superheated steam drying and air drying revealed that at elevated temperatures the superheated steam provided higher drying rates. Furthermore, there was a less starch gelatinization associated with air drying compared to superheated steam drying.     

Drying Kinetics and Antioxidant Phytochemicals Retention of Salak Fruit under Different Drying and Pretreatment Conditions

Kinetics of hot air drying and heat pump drying were studied by performing various drying trials on salak slices. Isothermal drying trials were conducted in hot air drying and heat pump drying at a temperature range of 40–90°C and 26–37°C, respectively. Intermittent drying trials were carried out in heat pump drying with two different modes: periodic heat air flow supply and step-up air temperature. It was observed that the effects of relative humidity and air velocity on drying rate were significant when moisture content in salak slices was high, whereas the effects of temperature prevailed when the moisture content was low. As such, it was proposed that drying conditions should be manipulated according to the moisture transport mechanisms at different stages of drying in order to optimize the intermittent drying and improve the product quality. Generally, loss of ascorbic acid during drying was attributed to thermal degradation and enzymatic oxidation, whereas the loss of phenolic compounds was mainly due to thermal degradation. Experimental results showed that heat pump drying with low-temperature dehumidified air not only enhanced the drying kinetics but produced a stable final product. Heat pump–dried samples retained a high concentration of ascorbic acid and total phenolic compounds when an appropriate drying mode was selected.     

Effects of Salting and Drying on Shark (Carcharhinus sorrah) Meat Quality Characteristics

The effect of drying method and pretreatment with salt on the properties of shark meat was investigated. Water loss during the salting step was faster with dry salting than with brine salting; however, both methods led to the same final water content at the end of the drying process. Moisture desorption isotherms showed that addition of salt prior to sun or air drying resulted in lower equilibrium moisture contents at the same water activity levels. Salting and method of drying had significant effects on the microbial load. Osmo-air-dried samples showed better microbial quality than samples treated by other methods. Molds grew on all samples after two months of storage at room temperature. Color and rehydration ratio were affected by the drying method. Higher dehydration ratios were obtained with air drying.     

Multi-Pass Sorption Drying of Paddy Using Rice Husk Adsorbent: Experiments and Simulation

A single-stage sorption drying of paddy with rice husk adsorbent cannot reduce its moisture content to a safe level since the relative humidity of air inside the mixing tank is very high. To obtain a safe moisture content, multi-pass sorption drying was used and the effect of operating parameters—i.e., rice husk density, rice husk initial moisture content, and volumetric mixing ratio of paddy to rice husk—on the drying time and paddy quality were investigated for two paddy varieties, Suphanburi 1 and Khao Dawk Mali 105. A mathematical model associated with the transfers of heat and mass between the grain and adsorbent was also formulated to explore the sensitivity of the operating parameters to the drying time. Both the experiment and the simulation showed that the drying time was shorter by using a lower initial moisture content of rice husk, a higher rice husk bulk density, and a higher volumetric mixing ratio, the last factor being less important. For quality assessment, the color of white rice for both paddy varieties changed insignificantly under the influence of all the operating parameters, but the head rice quality was rather sensitive to the operating conditions especially for the Khao Dawk Mali 105, which had a 6–10% lower in head rice yield compared to that of the reference samples.     

Heat Pump Drying of Green Sweet Pepper

Thin-layer drying experiments under controlled conditions were conducted for green sweet pepper in heat pump dryer at 30, 35, and 40°C and hot air dryer at 45°C with relative humidities ranging from 19 to 55%. The moisture content of sweet pepper slices reduced exponentially with drying time. As the temperature increased, the drying curve exhibited a steeper slope, thus exhibiting an increase in drying rate. Drying of green sweet pepper took place mainly under the falling-rate period. The Page equation was found to be better than the Lewis equation to describe the thin-layer drying of green sweet pepper with higher coefficient of determination and lower root mean square error. Drying in heat pump dryer at 40°C took less time with higher drying rate and specific moisture extraction rate as compared to hot air drying at 45°C due to lower relative humidity of the drying air in a heat pump dryer though the drying air temperature was less. The retention of total chlorophyll content and ascorbic acid content was observed to be more in heat pump–dried samples with higher rehydration ratios and sensory scores. The quality parameters showed a declining trend with increase in drying air temperature from 30 to 45°C. Keeping in view the energy consumption and quality attributes of dehydrated products, it is proposed to dry green sweet pepper at 35°C in heat pump dryer.     

Effects of ultrasound pretreatment on drying kinetics and quality parameters of button mushroom slices

The aim of this study was to investigate the utilization of ultrasound as a pretreatment method prior to drying to improve the quality of button mushroom slices during both hot air drying and far infrared drying processes. The effects of ultrasound and blanching pretreatments upon drying were analyzed. The ultrasound frequency was 40 kHz, the power was 0.4 W/cm², and the ultrasound energy was applied for 3 and 10 min, respectively. The ultrasound treatment caused reduction of the drying time by 9.5% in comparison to untreated samples. The drying kinetics of button mushroom slices were improved by ultrasound application, which involved an improvement of mass transfer coefficient and effective moisture diffusivity. The logarithmic model showed the best fit to the experimental drying data. For ultrasound treated samples, the parameters including hardness, crispness, rehydration ability, shrinkage, microstructure, and nutrient composition had remarkable changes compared with blanched and untreated samples.     

Effectiveness of hybrid drying

The aim of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of convective drying enhanced with microwave and infrared radiation. Four drying methods: convective, convective-microwave, convective-infrared and convective-microwave-infrared, were analyzed with respect to the length of the drying time by securing a good quality of dried products. To this aim the drying curves, the temperature of drying bodies, and the drying rates were determined experimentally and the appraisal of the dried product quality was made optically. The experiments were carried out on the kaolin samples in the form of cylinders. It was stated that a proper combination of these three drying methods may result in a very high drying rate and at the same time in a very good quality of the dried product.     

Study of Intermittent Low-Pressure Superheated Steam and Vacuum Drying of a Heat-Sensitive Material

Low-pressure superheated steam drying (LPSSD) has recently been applied to drying of various heat-sensitive foods and bioproducts with success. Several studies have shown that the quality of LPSSD-dried products is superior to that obtained using conventional hot air or vacuum drying. However, drying time and energy consumption for LPSSD is generally greater than that for vacuum drying. Therefore, it is necessary to examine different methodologies to improve the energy efficiency of LPSSD. An intermittent drying scheme is one possible method to reduce the energy consumption of the process while maintaining the desired product quality. In this study, the effect of intermittent supply of energy (through an electric heater and steam injection to the dryer) and vacuum (through the use of a vacuum pump) at various intermittency values or on:off periods (10:5, 10:10 and 10:20 min in the case of intermittent supply of energy and 5:0, 5:5, and 5:10 min in the case of intermittent supply of vacuum) at the on-period setting temperatures of 70, 80, and 90°C on the drying kinetics and heat transfer behavior of the drying samples (banana chips) was studied. The effects of these intermittent drying schemes and conditions on the quality parameters of dried banana chips; i.e., color, shrinkage, texture, and ascorbic acid retention, were also studied. Finally, the energy consumption values for intermittent LPSSD and vacuum drying were monitored through the effective (or net) drying time at various intermittent drying conditions and compared with those using continuous LPSSD and vacuum drying.     

DESICCANT GRAIN APPLIED TO THE STORAGE OF SOLAR DRYING POTENTIAL

Sorption storage of solar heat using a layer of wheat as the desiccant was analyzed by means of a deep-bed drying model. Intended to be applied to solar-assisted in-storage drying of agricultural bulk materials, the probability of the persistence of unfavorable weather periods was quantified statistically for Potsdam for the month of August, as an example. Simulation results demonstrate that a relative humidity of the drying air of 65 % can be maintained day and night for weeks without combustion of fossil fuels. Using a simple strategy of control, periods with insufficient solar radiation can be bridged over. The desiccant grain is not endangered by mold growth as a matter of principle. Simple solar air heaters can be used to avoid economic losses due to overdrying and to reduce the danger of decay to a minimum even at unfavorable climatic conditions.     

Ultrasound-assisted osmotic process on quality of microwave vacuum drying sweet potato

The effects of pretreatment before microwave vacuum drying (MVD) on texture, color, expansion, rehydration, drying rate, microstructure, sensory evaluation, and other properties of sweet potato were investigated in this study. The pretreatment consisted in five processing conditions, using blanching; osmotic dehydration at 35°Brix of sucrose (OD); ultrasound in distilled water (US); ultrasound in distilled water before osmotic dehydration (US?+?OD), and ultrasound-assisted osmotic dehydration (USOD). Pretreatments of sweet potato before MVD have shown success in reducing drying time with US treatment relatively more effective regarding drying time than other treatments. Compared with other treatments, US showed the highest rehydration ratio values. The osmotic group pretreatment exhibited a pronounced effect on water loss and solid gain, improved the color, aroma, and taste of dried sweet potato, whereas sucrose impregnation resulted in a hard texture observed with OD sample. USOD samples had a higher expansion ratio, lower hardness and color difference values, appeared less cell damaged, and recorded better overall quality than the other samples. There was a slight difference between USOD and US?+?OD samples. Combining osmotic dehydration with ultrasound as a pretreatment can significantly accelerate the heat transfer rate, reducing the dried time accordingly and increasing energy efficiency.     

DESICCANT GRAIN APPLIED TO THE STORAGE OF SOLAR DRYING POTENTIAL

ABSTRACT

Sorption storage of solar heat using a layer of wheat as the desiccant was analyzed by means of a deep-bed drying model. Intended to be applied to solar-assisted in-storage drying of agricultural bulk materials, the probability of the persistence of unfavorable weather periods was quantified statistically for Potsdam for the month of August, as an example. Simulation results demonstrate that a relative humidity of the drying air of 65 % can be maintained day and night for weeks without combustion of fossil fuels. Using a simple strategy of control, periods with insufficient solar radiation can be bridged over. The desiccant grain is not endangered by mold growth as a matter of principle. Simple solar air heaters can be used to avoid economic losses due to overdrying and to reduce the danger of decay to a minimum even at unfavorable climatic conditions.     

Comparison of four pretreatments on the drying behavior and quality of taro (Colocasia esculenta L. Schott) slices during intermittent microwave vacuum-assisted drying

ABSTRACT

Effect of different pretreatments on drying behavior and quality of taro slices during intermittent microwave vacuum-assisted drying were investigated. Taro slices were subjected to the following pretreatments: blanching (B), blanching and freezing (B?+?F), blanching and immersion in maltodextrin solution (B?+?M), and blanching and immersion in maltodextrin solution and freezing (B?+?M?+?F). The reduction in amylose content, the increase in amylose to amylopectin ratio, the change of mechanical properties, the increase in sample bulk density and reduction in sample porosity and structure collapse during pretreatment processes facilitated heat and moisture transfer and quality changes during drying of taro slices. During drying process, all the pretreatment reduced the drying time of samples. The drying rate included a warming-up period and a falling rate period. The values of effective moisture diffusivity increased gradually as the moisture content decreased. The B?+?M?+?F pretreatment had the shortest drying time, the highest drying rate and the biggest effective moisture diffusivity. Moreover, for B?+?M?+?F pretreatment, the parameters including hardness, crispness, color, and microstructure had remarkable changes as compared with the other pretreatments.     

Impacts of different drying strategies on drying characteristics,the retention of bio-active ingredient and colour changes of dried Roselle

The drying kinetics of Roselle(Hibiscus sabdariffa L) of variety Terengganu(UMKL-1) and the quality attribution of Roselle were studied. The experiments were conducted using four different drying methods, including solar greenhouse drying(SD), solar greenhouse with intermittent heat pump drying(SIHP), hot air drying(HA) and heat pump drying(HP). Among the four drying methods, HP achieved the highest drying rate at a range from0.054 g H_2 O·(g DM)~(-1) ·min~(-1) to 0.212 g H_2 O·(g DM)~(-1)·min~(-1) while SD had the lowest drying rate, measured at 0.042 g H_2 O·(g DM)~(-1)·min~(-1).The analysis on colour kinetics revealed that there is no significant colour loss(p 0.05) observed from HP's dried Roselle. Greater amount of flavonoid compounds i.e. protocatechuic acid was found in SD and SIHP dried finished product whereas HP's dried Roselle contains higher percentage of catechin as compared to other drying methods.     

Effect of Osmotic Dehydration with Pulsed Vacuum on Hot-Air Drying Kinetics and Quality Attributes of Cherry Tomatoes

The effects of osmotic dehydration (OD) with or without pulsed vacuum (PV) on hot-air drying kinetics and quality attributes of cherry tomatoes were investigated. Both OD and PVOD pre-treatments were performed for 3 h at 50°C in 50 and 70^o Brix sucrose solutions with a solution-to-fruit mass ratio of 4:1, and PVOD was applied for 15 min before OD at atmospheric pressure. Samples were further dried at air temperature of 70°C. Effective moisture diffusivity (D _eff) of osmotically dehydrated samples increased gradually while the D_eff curve of fresh samples had a plateau stage during hot air drying. Lower glass transition temperature, T_g, values of osmotically dehydrated samples indicated that they needed a lower storage temperature. Both OD and PVOD pre-treatments had advantages in shortening drying cycles and improving quality of products. Compared with air drying, osmo-air drying decreased the total drying time, color change, and hardness of dried samples by 32.26%, 18.11%, and 88.21%, respectively, and increased volume ratio and vitamin C retention rate by 72.31% and 125.82%. As compared with OD, PVOD decreased color change and hardness by 28.48% and 45.17%, increased volume ratio and vitamin C retention rate by 27.41% and 17.77%, but there was no significant difference shown in drying time. Therefore, osmotic pre-treatment can shorten the total dehydration time, and improve the general quality of dried cherry tomatoes.     

MICROWAVE DRYING : EFFECTS ON PAPER PROPERTIES

Effects of microwave drying on the mechanical and optical properties of handsheets made from kraft and chemi-thermomechanical pulps were studied experimentally. The quality of paper dried in a microwave field of 2450 MHz is compared with that of paper dried by conventional method under standard conditions. All properties were found to be either enhanced or at the same level as those obtained under standard conditions. Since microwave field allows volumetric heating of moisture, the drying time is much shorter due to reduced resistance to heat and mass transfer within the paper. Furthermore, it is suggested that microwave drying could replace the conventional drying method in the standard testing of pulp and paper samples for quality control purposes.