《Drying characteristics of kiwifruit during hot air drying》.pdf

Available online at Journal of Food Engineering 85 (2008) 303–308 /locate/jfoodeng Drying characteristics of kiwifruit during hot air drying Takahiro Orikasa a,*, Long Wu b, Takeo Shiina a, Akio Tagawa c a National Food Research Institute, 2-1-12 Kannondai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8642, Japan b Graduate School of Science and Technology, Chiba University, 648 Matsudo, Matsudo, Chiba 271-8510, Japan c Graduate School of Horticulture, Chiba University, 648 Matsudo, Matsudo, Chiba 271-8510, Japan Received 18 April 2007; received in revised form 23 July 2007; accepted 25 July 2007 Available online 2 August 2007 Abstract Drying characteristics and L-ascorbic acid changes of a kiwifruit slice (10 mm) were investigated during hot air drying at four tem- peratures ranging from 40 to 70 C. A relationship between hardening of the sample surface and the drying rate was also investigated. Using the measured data, a non-linear least squares method was applied to an exponential model for the first period of drying, and an infinite plane sheet model for the diffusion equation for the second period of drying. The empirical moisture content changes agreed well with both models. The values determined for the diffusion coefficients were 3.79 1012 12 2 to 7.53 10 m /s. An Arrhenius-type equa- tion was used to relate the diffusion coefficient of kiwifruit to temperature, and the activation energy of kiwifruit