Through‐circulation drying of vegetable materials. VIII. —Beetroot

Both shallow and deep beds of diced beetroot have been studied, variables investigated being D.B.T. (120–200° Ff); air flow (6–12 lb. of air/sq. ft./min.); W.B.D. (10–70° F), and bed‐loading ( Ld = 0.21‐2.1 Ib. of B.D.S./sq. ft.). Drying rates in shallow beds were found to depend largely on the D.B.T., the W.B.D. and air‐flow rate having a less marked effect. A prediction method used to determine the drying times of deep beds of diced beetroot in the moisture content range 8 to 0.1 was applied and found to be accurate to ±M9.0%. Moisture distribution in a single slice of beetroot during drying has also been studied.