MODELING OF BANANA DRYING PROCESS PARAMETERS

Abstract

Fruit drying is necessary to reduce water activity, prevent microbial spoilage, reduce weight and save costs for packaging, handling and transportation. This paper studies the kinetics of banana thin layer drying at 40-60 °C. Mathematical drying models were fitted to the experimental data obtained during the study. Moisture migration from banana slices was described using the Fickian diffusion model and the effective diffusion coefficient was calculated. The result showed that drying occurred mainly during the period of decreasing velocity with higher and shorter drying times achieved at lower and higher oven temperatures, respectively. The effective diffusion coefficient increased with increasing oven temperature.