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Kinetics and mathematical modeling of thin layer drying of osmo‐treated Aloe vera ( Aloe barbadensis ) gel slices
Author(s) -
Moradi Mehdi,
Niakousari Mehrdad,
Mousavi Khaneghah Amin
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of food process engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.507
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1745-4530
pISSN - 0145-8876
DOI - 10.1111/jfpe.13180
Subject(s) - aloe vera , moisture , convection , airflow , chemistry , chromatography , kinetics , materials science , thermodynamics , botany , composite material , biology , physics , quantum mechanics
In the present work, the drying kinetics of osmo‐pretreated Aloe vera gel slices (AVGS) was investigated. AVGS with an initial moisture content of 98.29% (wet basis) were subjected to 5 hr of osmosis process (10% NaCl solution, at 40°C, NaCl solution to A. vera ratio = 5:1), prior to atmospheric thin layer drying at air temperatures of 55, 70, and 85°C and air volumetric air flow rates of 0.015, 0.036, and 0.054 m 3 /s for the duration of 160 min. Results showed the mean values of the moisture ratio in air temperatures of 55, 70, and 85°C were categorized into three levels ( p < .01) of 0.551, 0.429, and 0.336, respectively, while the corresponding values for the osmo‐convective method were 0.561, 0.418, and 0.321, respectively. Similarly, the mean values of the moisture ratio in air flow rates of 0.015, 0.036, and 0.054 m 3 /s for the convective and osmo‐convective method assigned to different levels ( p < .01) of 0.511, 0.417, 0.385 and 0.510, 0.416, 0.372, respectively. Superposition technique was utilized to propose a new model for each drying method. The predicted moisture ratios evaluated by the superposition technique were in a good agreement with experimental values of moisture ratio. Practical Applications In the current investigation, a superposition technique was utilized to propose a new model for two drying methods (osmo‐convective and convective). Subsequently, an equation describing the drying process for each method was derived. This technique while being a simple model, delivers high accuracy data for all influencing parameters in the drying process.