Vol. 12, Issue 12 (2023)

Author(s):
Dahihande Pranali Bharatkumar and Dr. Souti Mukherjee

Abstract:
In a lab-scale tray dryer, hot air temperatures of 60, 70, and 80°C and slice thickness of 3, 6, and 9 mm were used in this study to investigate the effects of temperature and thickness on the drying Characteristics of pumpkin. The air velocity was maintained constant at 1 m.s-1. The results showed that as pumpkin slice thickness increased, drying time increased; however, drying temperature decreased with drying time. The data obtained from the experiment indicate only the decreasing rate period in the experimental drying curves. The drying properties have been modeled using Fick's diffusion equation, which fits all experimental data. During the drying process, the effective moisture diffusivity fluctuated between 0.203×10-9 and 2.028×10-9 m2. s^-1.