Sorption equilibrium and kinetics of thin-layer drying of green bell peppers

Drying is a unit operation widely used in food preservation. It is important to know how this process takes place and the effects of variables such as temperature, relative humidity and air velocity. It is also essential to know the equilibrium moisture content of the product at the temperature under study. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine the sorption isotherms and evaluate the effects of temperature (60°C and 75°C) and air velocity (1.5 m s-1 and 3.0 m s-1) on the thin-layer drying curves of green bell peppers. The experimental sorption data were adjusted to the BET and GAB models, where the latter best described the sorption behavior of the pepper. It was also verified that with the elevation in temperature lower values for the equilibrium moisture content were obtained. The drying data were adjusted to the Page model, Henderson and Pabis model, Newton model and Fick model. From the latter model the effective diffusion coefficient of water in the project was determined, confirming that the increase in temperature did not increase with greater air velocity. The Page model was that which best fit to all drying conditions. The variation in drying air velocity little affected the kinetics of the process, observing only a small reduction in drying time with increased air velocity (approximately 2.4%), while temperature showed the greatest influence, with a large reduction in drying time with increase in this variable (around 41.4%).