Polysaccharide-based edible coating can be useful as a pretreatment for drying since it prevents the oxidation of nutritional compounds, thereby improving the quality of dried products. In this study, the effects of polysaccharide coating (xanthan and balangu seed gums) on the drying kinetics of apricot slices were investigated. In addition, genetic algorithm-artificial neural network (GA-ANN) and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) models were used for prediction of drying time (DT) and moisture content (MC) of coated apricot slices in an infrared (IR) dryer. The GA-ANN and ANFIS were fed with two inputs of IR radiation intensity (150, 250, and 375 W) and the distance of slices from lamp surface (5, 7.5, and 10 cm) for prediction of average DT. Also, to predict the MC, these models were fed with three inputs of IR power, lamp distance, and treatment time. The developed GA-ANN, which included seven hidden neurons, predicted the DT of apricot slices with a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.970. Also, the GA-ANN model with nine neurons in one hidden layer predicts the MC with a high r-value (r = 0.999). The calculated r-values for prediction of DT and MC using the ANFIS-based subtractive clustering algorithm were 0.986 and 0.999, respectively, which showed a high correlation between predicted and experimental values. Sensitivity analysis results showed that IR intensity and treatment time were the most sensitive factors for prediction of DT and MC of coated apricot slices, respectively. Both GA-ANN and ANFIS models' predictions agreed well with testing data sets, and they could be useful for understanding and controlling the factors affecting on drying kinetics of apricot slices in an IR dryer.

Edible coatings can guarantee the quality of agricultural products, and performance as a low oxygen barrier, carbon dioxide, and water vapor, allowing reducing water loss or controlling water adsorption. The objective of the current work was aimed to evaluate the effects of novel edible coatings based on basil seed and xanthan gums, and infrared (IR) drying efficiency of coated apple slices. Seven empirical thin-layer models were fitted to the moisture ratio data. It was found that Page model had the best fit to show the kinetic behavior and acceptably described the IR drying behavior of coated apple slices with the lowest mean square error (MSE), root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE), and standard error (SE) values and the highest correlation coefficient (r) value. The values of MSE, RMSE and MAE for all experiments were in the ranges of 0.00014-0.00058, 0.012-0.024 and 0.009-0.021, respectively. The average drying time of uncoated apple slices, coated by xanthan gum and coated by basil seed gum were 48.00, 60.22, and 84.78 min, respectively. The average effective moisture diffusivity (D eff ) of uncoated and coated apple slices with basil seed and xanthan gums increased from 1.70 × 10 −9 m 2 /s to 4.45 × 10 −9 m 2 /s with increasing IR lamp power from 150 W to 375 W.

The article presented conducts the research of infrared radiation power effect on the colour and surface changes of peach slices coated with basil seeds gum (BSG) and xanthan gum during drying. The colour indices include redness (a*), yellowness (b*), lightness (L*), and total colour difference (∆E), which were used for the purposes of colour change calculation. As the IR radiation power increased from 150 W to 375 W, the average values of L*, a* and b* of uncoated and coated peach slices decreased from 67.45 to 65.41; 7.95 to 5.89; and 49.21 to 38.52, respectively. The lowest ∆E and surface change values were observed in peach samples coated with BSG. The modelling results showed that the MMF model was the best model to describe the total colour difference of uncoated and coated peach slices (the average correlation coefficient was equal to 0.991 and the average standard error was equal to 1.791). The surface area change (%) of uncoated and coated peach slices increased with the progression of drying time, but the rate of changes was lower for the coated peach slices with BSG. The current research indicated that BSG coating has the potential to improve surface colour and appearance quality of dried peach slices.

The objective of the current work was aimed to estimate the influence of novel edible coatings based on basil seed and xanthan gums, and infrared (IR) radiation power on the drying efficiency of coated peach slices were investigated in an IR dryer system. Moisture ratio data of IR drying of peach slices were fitted to 7 various empirical thin-layer equations. It was found that Page model has the best fit to show the kinetic behavior and acceptably described the IR drying behavior of coated peach slices with the lowest mean square error (MSE), root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE), and standard error (SE) values and the highest correlation coefficient (r) value. The values of MSE, RMSE, and MAE for all experiments were in the ranges of 0.00017-0.00047, 0.013-0.022, and 0.011-0.018, respectively. The average drying time of uncoated peach slices, coated by xanthan gum and coated by basil seed gum were 52.78, 60.00, and 76.22 min, respectively. The average effective moisture diffusivity (Deff) of uncoated and coated peach slices with basil seed and xanthan gums increased from 2.18×10-9 m2/s to 4.56×10-9 m2/s with increasing IR lamp power from 150 W to 375 W.

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