Experimental study of solar drying of multi‐layer peanuts and development of drying model

Abstract

The ancient method of solar drying remains an essential food safety and preservation technique, where solar irradiation acts as a source of thermal energy for drying the produce. Drying is a phenomenon in which excess water is removed from the agricultural produce to enhance shelf life and prevent it from degradation. Moisture is removed in the form of water vapor by thermal vaporization while the temperature remains below the boiling point of water. Removal of water significantly inhibits microbial growth, slows down enzymatic growth, and reduces many degradation reactions. Moreover, solar drying has other advantages namely, no need for a costlier cooling system for preservation, thereby minimizing the energy and equipment cost. The main objective of drying is to reduce drying

A review of solar and solar‐assisted drying of fresh produce: state of the art, drying kinetics, and product qualities

“…Table 1 summarizes various agro‐products drying and the main variables influencing the modeling of Jujube, 40 apricots, 56 mint, 56 tomato pomace, 36 mint leaves, black turmeric, 26 apple peels, 57 green peppers, 56 carob seeds, 58 cocoyam chips, 59 beetroot slices, 60 sweet potato chips, 61 date palm fruits, 62 peanuts, 63 tomato slices, 64 and apple slices 65 . In a study by Hussein et al ., 66 the drying kinetics of tomatoes was examined using a natural sun, solar, and hybrid solar dryer.…”