Modelling of Thin Layer Drying of Cocoyam Slices of Varying Thickness at Different Temperatures

Authors: Inyang UE, Etuk BR, Oboh IO

DOI Info: http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5048333

ABSTRACT

Drying of agricultural and food products reduces their moisture content and this help to avoid microbiological action which could lead to deterioration. In this study, the convective hot air oven was used to dry sliced cocoyam pieces to enable uniform drying. Proximate and functional analyses were carried out before and after drying. Eight selected semi-empirical drying models were fitted to the drying data using non-linear regression analysis. The most appropriate models were selected using the coefficient of determination (R²) and sum square error (SSE). The result obtained showed that there were reductions of the values of the cocoyam nutrients after drying. The cocoyam drying regime was characteristically in the constant and falling rate period. The optimum drying temperature for cocoyam was found to be 60 ^oC. The logarithmic model showed a better fit for the drying kinetic data of cocoyam in comparison with other tested models. Empirical models developed gave the relationship between moisture ratio to sizes and drying time for the various slice thicknesses and at the different temperatures studied. Activation energy obtained was between 14.802 kJ/mol and 19.138 kJ/mol while the effective moisture diffusivity was between 7.02×10^-7 and 2.00×10^-7 m./s for the different thicknesses at the various temperatures studied.

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