MICROWAVE and CONVECTIVE DRYING of POTATO SLICES

Abstract

Potato slices were dried using microwave drying, combined microwave and convective drying, and convective drying. Rehydration kinetics were also studied. Drying rates of the different drying methods were determined and microwave drying was compared with convective drying. Microwave drying has a potential for producing better quality dried products while considerably reducing drying duration (i.e., 10 min vs. 10 h). Effective moisture diffusivity profiles were calculated using Fick's diffusion model in one dimension. Statistical analysis showed diffusivity to increase with increasing internal temperature but to decrease (in microwave drying) with increasing moisture content, with high correlation (R 2 ≥ 0.973).