Insights of Drying

Abstract

Insights of DryingFood is absolutely paramount for the survival of every human being [1]. Therefore, 'Right to food' is universally and unequivocally recognized as a fundamental human requirement through article 25 of 'Universal Declaration of Human Rights' adopted in 1948 [2]. However, regardless of the unprecedented technological achievements made in the twenty-first century, 'hunger' has remained as one of the most predominant challenges. Food waste plays a pivotal role in the world hunger crisis as roughly 1.3 billion tons (30% of produced food worldwide) of food are being wasted in the food chain every year [3][4][5]. As a result, one in three people worldwide remain malnourished, and 815 million people are prone to hunger on a daily basis [6]. Food waste can be defined as the loss of food in subsequent stages of the food supply chain intended for human consumption [7]. Therefore, ensuring the availability of food through the incorporation of food preservation technologies, is one of the prime demands of the modern era [8,9]. While the availability of food and its wastage differs from nation to nation, all the developed countries follow an approximately similar waste trend. In contrast, a different trend can be observed in the developing countries, which is discussed later in this chapter. There are 195 UN recognized sovereign states in the world, and all of them have distinctive characteristics in terms of economic status, agricultural practices, food waste scenario, and hunger dimensions, etc. In order to continue the discussion on food waste and its proper management, countries can be categorized based on their GDP (PPP) per capita. Countries of the world can be classified in four groups based on the GDP (PPP) per capita: low income

An Investigation of the Use of Microwaves and Airborne Ultrasound in the Convective Drying of Kale: Process Efficiency and Product Characteristics

“…Sustainable drying technologies are essential for reducing food waste and energy consumption in developing countries [11,12]. Traditional drying methods, such as open sun drying, are energy-intensive and unhygienic [13]. To address these issues, integrating thermal energy storage with heat pumps and using advanced integrated drying systems, such as solar with microwaves or heat pumps with microwaves, can improve drying efficiency and food quality [14].…”