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General
Module 1. Moisture content and its determination.
Module 2. EMC
Module 3. Drying Theory and Mechanism of drying
Module 4. Air pressure within the grain bed, Shred...
Module 6. Study of different types of dryers- perf...
Module 5. Different methods of drying including pu...
Module 7. Study of drying and dehydration of agric...
Module 8. Types and causes of spoilage in storage.
Module 9. Storage of perishable products, function...
Module 10. Calculation of refrigeration load.
Module 11. Conditions for modified atmospheric sto...
Module 12. Storage of grains: destructive agents, ...
Module 13. Storage of cereal grains and their prod...
Module 14. Storage condition for various fruits an...
Module 15. Economics aspect of storage
Lesson.20 Miscellaneous Drying
20.1 DRUM Drying
Drum drying consists of indirect moisture removal from a thin film of product on the surface of internally heated twin (or single drum) hollow metal cylinders that rotate on a horizontal axis (Orsat and Raghavan, 2007; Vega-Mercado et al., 2001). Dried product is fl aked off using a scraper. This system is applicable to viscous foods and purees that can withstand high temperatures for a short period. Drum dried powdered and flaked products are used in bakery goods, beverages, cereal, granola, and dairy foods (Vega-Mercado et al., 2001). This method was also investigated as a texturizing method for wheat, rice, and fababean mixed breakfast cereals or puffed baked snacks (Abdel-Aal et al., 1996) and for the processing of apple pomace (Constenla et al., 2002). The effectiveness of the drying system relies on the uniform thickness of the film applied to the drum surface, the speed of rotation, and the heating temperature. The main advantages of this system are the high drying rate and energy efficiency.
20.2 REFRACTANCE WINDOW® DRYERS
Refractance Window drying is a relatively new indirect drying technology that is used to evaporate moisture from foods (Nindo and Tang, 2007; Nindo et al., 2007; Vega-Mercado et al., 2001). This approach uses a plastic fi lm to facilitate thermal energy transfer between a heating medium (i.e., water below the film) and a suspension (on the surface of the film). The thin plastic film, fabricated from Mylar, allows the transmission of infrared radiation in a wavelength that matches the absorption spectrum of water in the product. Refractance Window was developed to provide an alternative to long drying times and/or the use of high temperatures. Although the water is maintained at temperatures just below boiling at 95 to 98°C, product temperatures do not exceed 70°C. Shorter drying times are demonstrated by a reduction from hours (tray and freeze-drying) to 5 min (Refractance Window) for strawberry puree (Nindo and Tang, 2007). This system is applicable to the drying or preconcentration of liquid foods. It is also being pursued for its potential to process fruits, vegetables, and herbs into value-added powders, flakes, and concentrates.
20.3 Hybrid Drying
The use of hybrid drying technologies is another approach to combine the advantages of different drying methods which are in practice.
The combination of the osmotic dehydration and hot air drying is one of the important hybrid drying techniques.
The osmotic dehydration of foods prior to hot air drying partially removes water and thus reduces water removal load at the dryer. Also, solute gain creates elevated temperature during hot air drying resulting in faster drying rates as well as solid uptake by the root pieces modify the composition (sugar to acid ratio), prevent the enzymatic and oxidative browning, and improves the sensory attributes (colour, flavour, texture, taste and overall acceptability) of the final product.
Foods like onions can be dried using combination of osmotic dehydration and fluidized bed drying to get the better quality dehydrated onions with less energy consumption [19]. Recently, osmotic dehydration is combined with microwave drying.
Microwave vacuum drying of osmotically pre-treated foods combines the benefits of both the operations and high quality product can be obtained. The combined osmotic and microwave drying results in more homogeneous heating of the product by modification of its dielectric properties due to the solute uptake, slightly reduced drying time, reduced shrinkage, high porosity and improved rehydration characteristics [49,50] .
Literature shows some studies on the combined osmotic microwave vacuum dehydration of carrots and potatoes [19,51].
The value addition in the orange coloured carrots can be done by increasing its sweetness using osmotic pre-concentration and further it can be dried by microwave vacuum drying.
The probable benefit of the osmotic pre-treatment using sucrose solution is simultaneous sugar gain and osmotic dehydration which reduces the water removal load during finish drying by microwave vacuum drying.
The hybrid drying techniques of foods involve low energy unit operations and result into high quality product [52].