STRUCTURE, MICROSTRUCTURE AND THE STABILITY OF BIOMOLECULES AND BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS:“Modelling of Structural and Quality Changes during Drying of Vegetables: application to red sweet pepper (Capsicum Annuum L.)”

DI SCALA K.C., ROURA S.I. Y CRAPISTE G.H.

Water Properties of Food, Pharmaceutical, and Biological Materials.

CRC Taylor and Francis

Año: 2006; p. 537 - 542

Numerical simulation results for convective drying process in cross-flow packed bed dryers in batch and continuous mode for the case of slices of peppers were discussed in this paper. Mathematical models were developed from the governing differential equations that represent mass and energy transfer for the solid bed and the flowing air along with the constitutive equations for the drying kinetics of individual pieces of food and the kinetics of quality deterioration. Nutrient retention, process time and energy consumption were studied at different operating conditions of the dryer (air temperature and flow rate, recycle relation, bed depth, etc.) with constrains on the final moisture content and retention of ascorbic acid and carotenoids. Shrinkage of particles during drying due to structural changes was considered.