Effect of tray and microwave drying methods on the drying kinetics of wood apple (Limonia acidissima)

Abstract

The primary objective of this study was to examine the effects of various drying methods on the drying kinetics and colour of powdered Limonia acidissima (wood apple). The wood apple samples were specifically dried in a tray dryer at 60°C and 180W in the microwave. A generalised model was developed to forecast moisture as a function of drying time and temperature after fitting drying models to the moisture ratio was used to analyse the data. In this study, models were utilized to depict the drying behaviour of wood apple pulp powder. The performance of these models was evaluated using various measures, such as the correlation coefficient (R), root mean square error (RMSE), and reduced chi-square (χ 2 ). The findings showed that two models effectively explained the drying characteristics of wood apple (with R values greater than 0.996). Two models with R values greater than 0.996 were found to be useful in describing the drying characteristics of wood apple, according to the study. Based on its low average values of RMSE (0.00439), χ 2 (2.0079310-5), and R2 (0.99563), the Midilli model was the most effective at predicting the moisture transfer of wood apple pulp during tray drying at 60°C. Modified page model was found to be the best fitted or microwave drying at 180 W to predict the moisture transfer of pulp of wood apple owing to the lowest average values of RMSE (0.00456), χ 2 (2.21798×10-5) and R2 (0.99668). The total color change was observed maximum in microwave drying at 180 W due to high microwave power and lowest was observed in tray drying at 60°C due to low drying temperature which had a little influence as compared with the colour of WAPP obtained from microwave drying.