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Mathematical modeling of drying of pretreated and untreated pumpkin

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Abstract

In this study, drying characteristics of pretreated and untreated pumpkin were examined in a hot-air dryer at air temperatures within a range of 40–80 °C and a constant air velocity of 1.5 m/s. The drying was observed to be in the falling-rate drying period and thus liquid diffusion is the main mechanism of moisture movement from the internal regions to the product surface. The experimental drying data for the pumpkin fruits were used to fit Exponential, General exponential, Logarithmic, Page, Midilli-Kucuk and Parabolic model and the statistical validity of models tested were determined by non-linear regression analysis. The Parabolic model had the highest R2 and lowest χ2 and RMSE values. This indicates that the Parabolic model is appropriate to describe the dehydration behavior for the pumpkin.

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Abbreviations

a:

Drying constant

b:

Drying constant

c:

Drying constant

DR:

Drying rate (g water/g dry matter*h)

k:

Drying constant, 1/min

Me :

Equilibrium moisture content (kg water/kg dry matter)

Mi :

Initial moisture content (kg water/kg dry matter)

MR :

Dimensionless moisture ratio

MR exp,i :

Experimental dimensionless moisture ratio

MR pre,i :

Predicted dimensionless moisture ratio

Mt :

Moisture content at any time of drying (kg water/kg dry matter)

Mt + dt :

Moisture content at t + dt (kg water/kg dry matter)

N:

Number of observations

n:

Drying constant, positive integer

R2 :

Coefficient of determination

t:

Time (min)

W :

Amount of evaporated water (g)

W0:

Initial weight of sample (g)

W1:

Sample dry matter mass (g)

z:

Number of constants

χ2 :

Reduced chi-square

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food Science and Engineering, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, PMB 4000, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria

    T. Y. Tunde-Akintunde & G. O. Ogunlakin

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  1. T. Y. Tunde-Akintunde
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  2. G. O. Ogunlakin
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Correspondence to T. Y. Tunde-Akintunde.

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Tunde-Akintunde, T.Y., Ogunlakin, G.O. Mathematical modeling of drying of pretreated and untreated pumpkin. J Food Sci Technol 50, 705–713 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-011-0392-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-011-0392-2

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