Peyvand Gholipour; Mohammad Fazel
Abstract
Introduction: Ficus carica, commonly known as fig, is among the oldest types of fruit known to mankind. Drying is defined as a thermal process under controlled conditions in order to reduce the moisture in different types of food via evaporation. Edible films and coatings are used to enhance food quality ...
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Introduction: Ficus carica, commonly known as fig, is among the oldest types of fruit known to mankind. Drying is defined as a thermal process under controlled conditions in order to reduce the moisture in different types of food via evaporation. Edible films and coatings are used to enhance food quality by precluding oxidation and color changes in inappropriate conditions. Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) is thus widely used to improve food shelf life.
Materials and methods: All experiments were carried out on fresh edible green variety figs planted in the county of Neyriz Estahban. The figs were then immersed in the following solutions:
Distilled water as a control variable without coating; carboxy methyl cellulose (CMC) solution 1% containing 0.25 gr/L glycerol; and CMC solution 1% containing 0.25 gr/L glycerol and 2% ascorbic acid. Preliminary tests including average diameter, pH, total flavonoids content, and antioxidant activity were performed on the figs. The fruits were dried using a device designed by the authors. At 60 ̊C, 70 ̊C, and 80 ̊C, the airflow in the device was 0.5 m/s, 1.0 m/s, and 1.5 m/s, respectively. After drying the samples, secondary experiments were performed which, in addition to the previous tests, included texture analysis, water reabsorption, volume measurement, shrinkage, and color analysis. A total of 27 treatments were applied in 3 rounds. A full factorial design was employed for statistical analyses while average values were compared via Duncan’s test at 5% significance. Calculations were performed using SPSS 16.0.
Results & Discussion: Using CMC coating, shrinkage increased compared to the control sample. As airflow accelerates from 0.5 m/s to 1.5 m/s, higher levels of shrinkage are observed. This could be attributed to the drier surface of the fruit caused by faster airflow. Shrinkage increases with the speed of airflow going from 0.5 m/s to 1.5 m/s. This is because at higher speeds, the sample is dried in a shorter period of time and sustains less damage.
Water reabsorption was found to decrease with higher temperature and airflow. Weak reabsorption results from the breakdown of the internal structure of the fruits.
CMC-ascorbic acid, CMC, and the control sample had the highest to lowest levels of firmness, respectively. The acid was found to preserve the internal cellular structure and preserve its breakdown. Moreover, firmness increases with the drying temperature.
According to the results, the samples coated with CMC and CMC-ascorbic acid had lower pH compared to the control sample. Airflow speed and temperature are inversely and directly related to pH, respectively.
In the CMC-ascorbic acid treatment, antioxidant capacity increased compared to the other two treatments. This may be associated with ascorbic acid’s higher ability to act as a carrier of anti-browning agents. Also, higher levels of antioxidant behavior were observed with higher temperature as it causes faster drying. Moreover, the coating acts to preserve the antioxidant and eliminates the impact of temperature.
The highest amount of flavonoids was observed in the CMC-ascorbic acid treatment followed by the control sample and the CMC treatment. This is because the ascorbic acid serves to maintain the flavonoids in the samples. The flavonoid content increases with the airflow speed since the sample is dried in a shorter duration and the flavonoids are preserved. However, higher temperature reduces the flavonoid content since heat damages the pigment.
The application of the CMC coating (alone or in combination with ascorbic acid) increased luminance compared to the control sample due to the preventative effect of the edible coating on the oxidation of the pigments in the fig samples. With faster airflows, surface moisture begins to vary which causes the coating to become lighter with higher L*. An increase in the temperature leads to lower L* as the heat causes the carotenoids and chlorophyll to break down and form brown pigments in the samples.
Using the CMC-ascorbic acid coating increases a* in figs. Furthermore, as the temperature goes up from 60 ̊C, a* also increases.
The coated samples demonstrate higher levels of b* compared to the control sample. In fact, the coating preserves the pigments and thus maintains the yellow color of the figs. The value of b* is directly related to the speed of the airflow because it decreases drying time. As a result, the product undergoes less heat. Finally, higher temperature leads to higher b* in the dried figs.
Shohreh Nikkhah; Nasser Sedaghat
Abstract
This research was carried out in order to investigate on the effects of packaging type and storage temperature on qualitative and quantitative characteristics of dried melon. “Thashkandi” and ‘ Khatoni” melon varieties؛ osmotic solutions of 0% and 10% sucrose and cabinet dryer ...
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This research was carried out in order to investigate on the effects of packaging type and storage temperature on qualitative and quantitative characteristics of dried melon. “Thashkandi” and ‘ Khatoni” melon varieties؛ osmotic solutions of 0% and 10% sucrose and cabinet dryer were applied for dried melon production. Dried fruits were packed with modified atmosphere (PE-PA film, 85 micron thickness, two gas mixtures: (70% CO2%, 30% N2(1) and 60% CO2%, 40% N2(2)) and without modified atmosphere (polyethylene and polystyrene films). After 6 months results showed that control dried in 10% osmotic solution preserved in 25°c and 4°c treatment had the most and the least firmness respectively. Melon pretreated by 10% osmotic solution, packed in atmosphere 1 had the least water activity. Dried melon preserved in 4°c had higher L*(brightness) and b*(yellowness) indices. Khatooni cultivar produced dried melon with higher a*(redness). Dried melon pretreated by 10% osmotic solution and packed in atmosphere 2 had less a*(redness). Furthermore dried melon pretreated by 10% osmotic solution and packed in atmosphere 2 and preserved in 4°c had minimum O2% and maximum CO2% in package.
Azam Ayoubi; Nasser Sedaghat; Mahdi Kashani-Nejad; Mohebbat Mohebbi; Mehdi Nasiri mahalati
Abstract
The purpose of this research was study effect of drying conditions (temperature at three levels of 60,70, and 80 oC, air velocity at two levels of 1/5 and 2/5 m/s, and four pretreatments including potassium carbonate and paksan oil, olive oil, hot water and no pretreatment (control)) on drying grape ...
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The purpose of this research was study effect of drying conditions (temperature at three levels of 60,70, and 80 oC, air velocity at two levels of 1/5 and 2/5 m/s, and four pretreatments including potassium carbonate and paksan oil, olive oil, hot water and no pretreatment (control)) on drying grape process and quality of raisin including rehydration, shrinkage, hardness and browning index. The results showed that temperature, air velocity and pretreatment have significant effects on drying rate and quality of raisin. Drying rate increased with increasing temperature and air velocity and with application of preatreatment. The best values of hardness (0.73 N), shrinkage (81/04%) and the least value of browning index (0/157) were related to dried raisin at 60 oC and most value of rehydration (1/266) was related to dried raisin at 70 oC. Air velocity just significantly affected on browning index. Increasing air velocity decreased browning index. Also between used preatreatments , potassium carbonate and paksan oil caused best physicochemical results.
Alireza Yousefi; Naser Ghasemian
Abstract
In this work, a hybrid GMDH–neural network model was developed in order to predict the moisture content of papaya slices during hot air drying in a cabinet dryer. For this purpose, parameters including drying time, slices thickness and drying temperature were considered as the inputs and the amount ...
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In this work, a hybrid GMDH–neural network model was developed in order to predict the moisture content of papaya slices during hot air drying in a cabinet dryer. For this purpose, parameters including drying time, slices thickness and drying temperature were considered as the inputs and the amount of moisture ratio (MR) was estimated as the output. Exactly 50% of the data points were used for training and 50% for testing. In addition, four different mathematical models were fitted to the experimental data and compared with the GMDH model. The determination coefficient (R2) and root mean square error (RMSE) computed for the GMDH model were 0.9960 and 0.0220,and for the best mathematical model (Newton model) were 0.9954 and 0.0230, respectively. Thus, it was deduced that the estimation of moisture content of thin layer papaya fruit slices could be better modeled by a GMDH model than by the mathematical models.
Amir Salari; Mostafa Mazaheri Tehrani; Seyed Mohammad Ali Razavi
Abstract
In this study, mathematical modeling of hot air baking-drying of thin-layer crisp bread was investigated. Thin-layer drying process were conducted under three different temperatures of 110, 150 and 190 °C at a constant air velocity of 0.5±0.1 m/s and absolute humidity of 0.6 ± 0.04g ...
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In this study, mathematical modeling of hot air baking-drying of thin-layer crisp bread was investigated. Thin-layer drying process were conducted under three different temperatures of 110, 150 and 190 °C at a constant air velocity of 0.5±0.1 m/s and absolute humidity of 0.6 ± 0.04g water/kg dry air. It was found that the baking-drying process occurred in falling rate period over the baking-drying times. Eight well-known thin-layer baking-drying models were fitted to the baking-drying experimental data of crisp bread, implementing non-linear regression analysis techniques. Based on the coefficient of determination (R²) and root mean square error (RMSE) values, it was concluded that the best models in terms of fitting performance for hot air baking-drying of bran free crisp bread were Wang & Singh and Logarithmic while for whole-wheat crisp bread were Page, Logarithmic and Wang & Singh. The moisture transfer from crisp bread was described using the Fick’s diffusion model. The effective diffusivity was within the range of 2.88×10-8 to 1.11×10-7 m2/s for bran free crisp bread and from 2.47×10-8 to 8.84×10-8 m2/s for whole-wheat crisp bread over the temperature range. The activation energy for bran free and whole-wheat crisp bread was found to be 25.22 and 23.43 kJ/mol, respectively..
Ghasem Yousefi; Zahra Emam-Djomeh
Abstract
The present research surveyed the effect of five factors including: microwaves power, air temperatures and its flow rates, microwaving time onset and amount of substances on the requested time and energy for combined fluidized bed- microwaves drying of black raspberry into 50% dry base wet content. Response ...
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The present research surveyed the effect of five factors including: microwaves power, air temperatures and its flow rates, microwaving time onset and amount of substances on the requested time and energy for combined fluidized bed- microwaves drying of black raspberry into 50% dry base wet content. Response surface methodology and Central composite was used as experimental design. Multiple linear regression was used for obtaining second polynomials models for each analyses followed by ANOVA analysis in order to confirming the adequacy and accuracy of resulted models. Using the empirical resulted model the relationship between variables and responses were determined via response surface method. Correlation coefficients of the regression models were 0.964 and 0.970 respectively for the drying time and energy consumption. The Optimized drying condition were including; 600 watts for microwaves power and microwaving onset from that time as the moisture content was 344% decreased,73 g for amount of substances, and 85˚C and 15 m.s-1 for air temperatures and its flow rates respectively. Under mentioned conditions, the fitted model was predicted 52.66 Min and 65.2 Kj respectively for the requested drying time and energy consumption at combined drier. As a conclusion, the results showed that requested drying time and energy consumption were decreased with increasing of temperatures, microwaving time and its power, and decreasing of air flow rates. In this regard, the drying kinetics curve samples were drawn under the conditions listed that showed drying time is reduced to 76% with increasing temperature from 55 to 85 and use the microwave reduced drying time until 30 to 80%.
Farideh Tabatabaei Yazdi; Mohebbat Mohebbi; Seyed Ali Mortazavi; Arash Ghaitaranpour; Behrooz Alizadeh Behbahani
Abstract
The effects of a couple of factors (cooking period of wheat: 0, 1 and 3.5 h and temperature of drying 70, 80 and 90 ْC) on drying behavior of Tarkhineh during hot-air drying has been investigated. Tarkhineh pill samples with 8 cm diameter and 11 mm thickness were dried to 0.64(d.b). Results showed that ...
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The effects of a couple of factors (cooking period of wheat: 0, 1 and 3.5 h and temperature of drying 70, 80 and 90 ْC) on drying behavior of Tarkhineh during hot-air drying has been investigated. Tarkhineh pill samples with 8 cm diameter and 11 mm thickness were dried to 0.64(d.b). Results showed that cooking of wheat led to higher water absorption of Tarkhineh dough, while increased drying rate. On the other hand, increasing drying temperature resulted in higher drying rate of samples. The effects of temperature on drying rate was pronounced in raw samples compared to cooked ones, which could be attributed to the cracking in the cooked samples during drying . Drying kinetics of Tarkhineh in raw samples unlike cooked samples presented a falling rate period followed by a constant rate period. The effective moisture diffusion coefficient of Tarkhineh varied between 1.611E-10 & 7.822E-10 (m2/s)) for the given temperature range) and corresponding activation energy was between 37.928 and 17.941(kJ/mol) respectively.
Hassan Afshari Jooybari; Asgar Farahnaki; Mahsa Majzoobi; Gholam Reza Mesbahi; Mehrdad Niakosari
Abstract
Mazafati date is a wet and semi-dried date fruit type with dark red to black color that has premier quality. Because of its high moisture content, date fruits of this variety are very perishable at room temperature and therefore must be refrigerated during storage. In this study, effect of air temperature ...
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Mazafati date is a wet and semi-dried date fruit type with dark red to black color that has premier quality. Because of its high moisture content, date fruits of this variety are very perishable at room temperature and therefore must be refrigerated during storage. In this study, effect of air temperature (50, 60, 70, 80 and 90 ˚C) and air flow rate (1, 1.5 and 2 m/s) in hot air drying of Mazafati date were investigated. The results showed that for all samples, drying occurred at the falling rate stage of drying and the main factor affecting the drying rate was air temperature. Air flow rate did not have significant effect on drying rate. Overall, it was concluded that moisture of Mazafati dates can be reduced by cabinet drying and therefore using drying process, the need for their cold storage can be eliminated.
Shahla Khodabakhsh Aghdam; Mahdi Moradi; Alireza Yousefi
Abstract
In this research, Papaya slices with dimensions of 0.5×2×5 cm3 were dried at 45 °C using a cabinet dryer in which drying air velocity and relative humidity were 0.9 m/s and 30%, respectively. The moisture diffusion coefficient of Papaya was determined in this drying condition. Mass transfer equation ...
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In this research, Papaya slices with dimensions of 0.5×2×5 cm3 were dried at 45 °C using a cabinet dryer in which drying air velocity and relative humidity were 0.9 m/s and 30%, respectively. The moisture diffusion coefficient of Papaya was determined in this drying condition. Mass transfer equation with its boundary conditions was solved based on finite difference method. Finally, coefficient of determination and goodness of fitting between the gained theoretical model by solving mass transfer equation, and experimental data were obtained R2=0.996 and RMSE=0.00115. Therefore, finite difference numerical method showed a suitable correlation with low error into the experimental data for solving of mass transfer equation.
