THIN-LAYER DRYING CHARACTERISTICS FOR GREEN CHILLI

Thin-layer drying experiments under overflow-underflow and through flow conditions of green chilli were conducted with air temperature ranging from 40 to 65°C, relative humidity ranging from 10 to 60% and air velocity ranging from 0.10 to 1.0 m/s. The single exponential equation and the Page equation were used to determine the thin-layer drying characteristics for green chilli. Both the equations fitted well to the experimental data. The Page equation was found to describe the thin-layer drying of chilli better than the single exponential equation. The parameters of the Page equation and the single exponential equation were expressed as a function of drying air temperature, relative humidity and air velocity.