Effects of edible coatings and ultrasonic pretreatment on the phenolic content, antioxidant potential, drying rate, and rehydration ratio of sweet cherry

The target of this study was to examine the influence of ultrasound pretreatment and edible coatings (xanthan, guar, and wild sage seed gums) on the total phenols content, antioxidant potential, mass transfer rate, effective moisture diffusivity (Deff), and rehydration rate of sweet cherries (SC). For the edible coating of SC, a 0.2% gum solution (xanthan, guar, and wild sage seed) was prepared and the SC were dipped into the aqueous solution. Also, the ultrasound process (40 kHz and 150 W) was performed in an ultrasonic bath for 3 min. The gums coating increased the total phenols content, antioxidant properties, and drying time and decreased the Deff values. The highest value of DPPH (2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging activity (61.04 ± 2.09%) was observed on coated SC by guar gum. The mean drying times for uncoated, xanthan gum-coated, guar gum-coated, and wild sage seed gum-coated SC were 130, 160, 175, and 140 min, respectively. In this study, the SC Deff as determined by the second Fick law varied from 1.39 × 10-9 m2/s to 2.46 × 10-9 m2/s. The Midilli model gave the best results for describing single-layer drying of SC. The mean rehydration ratio for uncoated, xanthan gum-coated, guar gum-coated, and wild sage seed gum-coated SC were 141.81, 167.26, 176.21, and 156.87 %, respectively. Considering the total phenols content, antioxidant activity, and rehydration ratio, edible coating and ultrasonic pretreatment will be more promising for SC pretreatment before drying and other processes.

Loss factor and moisture diffusivity property estimation of lentil crop during microwave processing

Characterization of loss factor and moisture diffusivity are required to understand materials' precise behavior during microwave processing. However, providing the processing facilities to measure these properties in a real or simulated situation directly can be complicated or unachievable. Hence, this study proposes an alternative procedure for modeling these properties according to their affecting factors including temperature, and moisture content. The basis of this method is to use an algorithm that combines the optimization approach and the numerical solution of the heat and mass transfer governing equations, including boundary conditions. For this aim, the coefficients of estimated models for loss factor and moisture diffusivity were obtained by minimizing the sum square error of the experimentally measured mean surface temperature and moisture content and the predicted values by solving the system of partial differential equations. The suggested models illustrated that during the microwave process, the moisture diffusivity grows arithmetically, and the loss factor generally raises, but transition points were observed in the trend for the samples tempered up to the 50% moisture content. These points have been attributed to the starch gelatinization and confirm how the bio-chemical reaction would have a noticeable effect on this property, determining the microwave energy absorbance. The results of differential scanning calorimetry thermograms and the Fourier transform mid-infrared spectra of flours obtained from microwave processed lentil seeds also confirmed the greatest intensity of starch structure alteration happened for the samples tempered to 50% moisture content by showing the highest shifts in the endothermic peak and lowest degree of order.

Non-isothermal drying of bio-wastes: Kinetic analysis and determination of effective moisture diffusivity

A macro-thermogravimetric analysis (macro-TGA) was applied to analyse the non-isothermal drying of different bio-wastes (quince solid waste, grape marc and pumpkin shell from different enterprises located in San Juan Province, Argentina). The experimental data were obtained at three heating rates (5, 10 and 15 K/min) and two different initial moisture contents (30 and 50% w/w). These data were fitted using the Coats-Redfern and Sharp methods. The D2 model showed the best fitting for all experiments when using the Coats-Redfern method. It is assumed that drying occurs on the solid boundary. The predicted E_a values ranged from 43.60 to 64.50 kJ/mol for the three bio-wastes under the different experimental conditions. The E_a value slightly increases with the increase in heating rate because the wastes require more energy to undergo drying. Deff increases moderately with temperature at the beginning of the dehydration process; then, this increasing behaviour is significant due to the loss of continuous moisture channels. Otherwise, Deff increases with the initial moisture content, showing that the humidity of the samples did not reach the saturation content.

Comparative study of hot air and vacuum drying on the drying kinetics and physicochemical properties of chicory roots

The effect of the drying conditions on the retention quality for dried chicory roots (Cichorium intibyus L.) was investigated. Cubes of chicory roots were dried using hot air and vacuum dryers at 60 and 80 °C. Two different air velocities (0.2 and 0.7 m/s) were used in the hot air dryer, and two vacuum pressures (25 and 50 mmHg absolute) were set in the vacuum chamber. An exhaustive three dimensional mathematical model to describe mass transfer during drying of chicory roots of 1 cm of side was presented considering a polynomial functionality for the contraction kinetics. Experimental data obtained at laboratory scale were used to validate the proposed model showing good agreement between the experimental and estimated moisture profiles for both drying procedures. Moisture diffusivity was found to increase with the air drying temperature, velocity and vacuum pressure depending on the drying method. However, higher moisture diffusivity coefficients and lower activation energy values were obtained for the vacuum drying method. Samples dried using the vacuum drier at 60 °C and 25 mmHg presented better retention quality attributes, i.e., better rehydration, lower shrinkage and higher total phenolic content. The proposed mathematical model was able to satisfactorily predict the described behavior.

Drying kinetics and mathematical modeling of hot air drying of coconut coir pith

Drying kinetics of coir pith was studied and the properties of compressed coir pith discs were analyzed. Coir pith particles were oven dried in the range of temperatures from 100 to 240 °C and the rehydration ability of compressed coir pith was evaluated by finding the volume expansion. The optimum drying temperature was found to be 140 °C. Hot air drying was carried out to examine the drying kinetics by allowing the coir pith particles to fluidize and circulate inside the drying chamber. Particle motion within the drying chamber closely resembled the particle motion in a flash dryer. The effective moisture diffusivity was found to increase from 1.18 × 10⁻⁸ to 1.37 × 10⁻⁸ m²/s with the increase of air velocity from 1.4 to 2.5 m/s respectively. Correlation analysis and residual plots were used to determine the adequacy of existing mathematical models for describing the drying behavior of coir pith. The empirical models, Wang and Singh model and Linear model, were found to be adequate for accurate prediction of drying behavior of coir pith. A new model was proposed by modifying the Wang and Singh model and considering the effect of air velocity. It gave the best correlation between observed and predicted moisture ratio with high value of coefficient of determination (R²) and lower values of root mean square error, reduced Chi square (χ²) and mean relative deviation (E%).

Sun drying of seedless and seeded grapes

In this study, sun drying behaviour of seedless and seeded grapes was investigated. The drying study showed that the times taken for drying of seedless and seeded grapes of berry size of 1.72 cm and 2.20 cm thicknesses from the initial moisture contents of 78.2% and 79.5% (w.b.) to final moisture content of around 22% (w.b.) were 176 and 228 h in open sun drying, respectively. The drying data were fitted to 12 thin-layer drying models. The performance of these models were compared using the determination of coefficient (R(2)), mean relative percent error (P), reduced chi-square (χ (2)) and root mean square error (RMSE) between the observed and predicted moisture ratios. The results showed that Midilli et al. model was found to satisfactorily describe the sun drying curves of seedless and seeded grapes. The effective moisture diffusivity values were estimated from Fick's diffusion model by 1.02 × 10(-11) and 1.66 × 10(-11) m(2)/s for seeded and seedless grapes.

Effect of drying conditions on drying kinetics and quality of aromatic Pandanus amaryllifolius leaves

Pandanus amaryllifolius is a plant with aromatic leaves, which impart the characteristic flavour of aromatic rice. The quality of aromatic Pandanus leaves dried at low temperature (35 °C) and low RH (27%) in a heat pump dryer was evaluated and compared with those obtained from hot air drying at 45 °C. Thin-layer drying kinetics has been studied for both the conditions. To determine the kinetic parameters, the drying data were fitted to various semi-theoretical models. The goodness of fit was determined using the coefficient of determination, reduced chi square, and root mean square error. Aroma, colour, and overall acceptability determination of fresh and dried leaves were made using sensory evaluation. Drying of leaves took place mainly under the falling-rate period. The Page equation was found to be best among the proposed models to describe the thin-layer drying of Pandanus leaves with higher coefficient of determination. The effective moisture diffusivity values were also determined. The effect of low RH was prominent during the initial drying when the product was moist. The effect of temperature was prominent in the later part of drying, which acted as a driving force for moisture diffusion and hence the total drying time was reduced. Retention of aromatic compound 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline content was more in low temperature dried samples with higher sensory scores.

Effect of osmotic pretreatment on air drying characteristics and colour of pepper (Capsicum spp) cultivars

Air-drying characteristics of fresh and osmotically pretreated (40°B, 50°B and 60°B sucrose solutions for 9 h) four pepper cultivars namely, Rodo (Capsicum annuum), Shombo (Capsicum frutescens), Bawa (Capsicum frutenscens) and Tatashe (Capsicum annuum), and CIE L*a*b* parameters of air-dried (50, 60, 70 and 80 °C) peppers were investigated. Moisture diffusivity and activation energy (Ea) were calculated from Fick's law and analogous Arrhenius equation, respectively. Colour difference, chroma and hue angle of fresh- and osmo-oven dried peppers were evaluated. Drying rates occurred predominantly in the falling rate. Moisture diffusivity varied from 8.071 × 10(-10)-1.048 × 10(-8), 7.710 × 10(-11)-1.018 × 10(-9), 9.807 × 10(-9)-1.746 × 10(-8) and 8.748 × 10(-10)-1.464 × 10(-9) m(2)/s for Bawa, Rodo, Shombo, and Tatashe, respectively. Ea for moisture diffusion during drying of peppers varied from 53.86 to 84.86 kJ/mol and was affected by cultivars and osmotic pretreatment concentration. Osmotic pretreatment and drying temperature had significant effect (p < 0.05) on a*, b*, chroma and hue angle values of dried peppers.