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Drying of eggplant and selection of a suitable thin layer drying model

Article  in  Journal of Food Engineering · August 2004

DOI: 10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2003.08.007

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 Journal of Food Engineering 63 (2004) 349–359
www.elsevier.com/locate/jfoodeng

Drying of eggplant and selection of a suitable thin layer drying model

C. Ertekin *, O. Yaldiz
Faculty of Agricultural Engineering, Department of Farm Machinery, Akdeniz University, 07070 Antalya, Turkey
Received 26 February 2003; accepted 18 August 2003

Abstract
The thin layer drying behaviour of eggplants in a laboratory dryer was examined. Drying characteristics of eggplants were
determined using heated ambient air at temperatures from 30 to 70 °C and velocities from 0.5 to 2.0 m/s. Beside the effects of drying
air temperature and velocity, the effects of pre-treatment and slice thickness on the drying characteristics, drying time and quality of
dried product were also determined. Drying curves obtained from the experimental data were then fitted to the different semi-
theoretical and/or empirical thin layer drying models. The effects of drying air temperature and velocity on the model constants and
coefficients were evaluated by a multiple regression technique. All the models were compared according to three statistical
parameter; i.e. root mean square error, chi-square and modeling efficiency.
The results have shown that, increasing the drying air temperature and velocity causes shorter drying times. In an eggplant drying
process, pre-treatment must definitely be applied to decrease drying time. A thinner slice also causes a shorter drying time. While the
increasing drying air temperature decreased the colour lightness, increasing drying air velocity raised it. Slice thickness did not have
any significant effect on the colour characteristics. Increasing drying air velocity raised the re-hydration ratio, and the highest value
was obtained at a drying air temperature of 50 °C. The Midilli et al. model was found to be the best model for describing the drying
curves of eggplants. The effects of drying air temperature and velocity on the drying constant and coefficient were also shown.
Ó 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Drying; Modeling; Eggplant; Thin layer drying

1. Introduction and exported 34 tonnes dried eggplant in 2002. The in-

Drying is defined as a process of moisture removal
due to simultaneous heat and mass transfer. It is also a
classical method of food preservation, which provides
longer shelf-life, lighter weight for transportation and
smaller space for storage. Natural sun drying is prac-
ticed widely in the World and also Turkey, but has some
problems related to the contamination by dirt and dust
and infestation by insects, rodents and other animals.
Therefore, the drying process should be undertaken in
closed equipments, to improve the quality of the final
product.
Many different types of vegetables have been pro-
duced in Turkey because of its suitable climate. Turkey
produced about 970,000 tonnes of eggplant (FAO, 2003)
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +90-242-2274560; fax: +90-242-
2274564.
E-mail address: ertekin@akdeniz.edu.tr (C. Ertekin).
0260-8774/$ - see front matter Ó 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2003.08.007
come was about 157,000 US$ (Hazine ve Dis Ticaret
Mustesarlıgı, 2003). Improving the quality of the dried
materials could increase this amount and thus the in-
come. In order to improve the quality, the traditional
natural sun drying technique should be replaced with
modern drying methods. Drying characteristics of spe-
cific products should be determined to improve its
quality.
The study of the drying behaviour of different pro-
ducts has recently been a subject of interest for various
investigators. For example, apricot (Togrul & Pehlivan,
2002, 2003), grape (Pangavhane, Sawhney, & Sarsav-
adia, 1999; Yaldız, Ertekin, & Uzun, 2001), black tea
(Panchariya, Popovic, & Sharma, 2002; Temple & Van
Boxtel, 1999), banana (Dandamrongrak, Young, &
Mason, 2002), pistachio (Midilli & Kucuk, 2003), potato
(Akpınar, Midilli, & Bicer, 2003), plum (Sabarez, Price,
Back, & Woolf, 1997), green pepper, stuffed pepper,
pumpkin, green bean and onion (Yaldız & Ertekin,
2001), mushroom and pollen (Midilli, Olgun, & Ayhan,
350 C. Ertekin, O. Yaldiz / Journal of Food Engineering 63 (2004) 349–359
Nomenclature
L
brightness of the colour
C
colour saturation
a
hue range of the colours red (+) and green ())
b
hue range of the colours yellow (+) and blue
())
MR moisture ratio
M moisture content at any time of drying pro-
cess (kg water/kg dry matter)
Me equilibrium moisture content (kg water/kg
dry matter)
M0 initial moisture content (kg water/kg dry
matter)
v-square, v2 Chi-square
1999), rough rice (Basunia & Abe, 2001), mulberry
(Maskan & Gogus, 1998), laurel leaves (Yagcioglu,
Degirmencioglu, & Cagatay, 1999) and carrot (Pra-
bhanjan, Ramaswamy, & Raghavan, 1995). According
to the Turkish meal habits, some of the vegetables are
dried in summer times and consumed in winter months.
Dried eggplant is one of this vegetables, it is tradition-
ally consumed in different kinds of meals.
The objective of this work was to study the effect of
drying air temperature and velocity, pre-treatment and
slice thickness on the drying characteristics, drying time
and quality characteristics of colour and re-hydration
ratio for the eggplant drying process. In addition to
this, development of a mathematical model for thin
layer drying of eggplant, choosing a suitable model and
also investigation of the effects of drying air tempera-
ture and velocity on the model coefficients which can
describe the drying characteristics of eggplants were
investigated.
2. Material and method
2.1. The laboratory dryer
The drying experiments were carried out using the
laboratory dryer in the Department of Farm Machinery,
Faculty of Agriculture, University of Akdeniz, Antalya,
Turkey, which could be regulated to any desired drying
air temperature between 20 and 120 °C and velocity
between 0.1 and 3.0 m/s with high accuracy.
The laboratory dryer consists of an airflow control
unit, a heating and heating control unit, an electrical
fan, measurement sensors and the drying chamber (Fig.
1). The air flow control unit regulate the velocity of the
drying air flowing through the 30 cm diameter drying
chamber. The product was spread in a thin layer on a
RMSE root mean square error
EF modeling efficiency
MRexp;i ith experimental moisture ratio
MRpre;i ith predicted moisture ratio
N number of observations
n number of constants in the model
MRexp;mean mean value of experimental moisture ratio
T drying air temperature (°C)
V drying air velocity (m/s)
k, k0 , k1 , g, h drying constants (h1 )
a, b, c, d, e, f , n coefficients
t drying time (h)
Airflow
Control Unit
Heating
Control Unit
Electrical Heating Drying
Driven Fan Unit Chamber
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of laboratory dryer.
screen. The desired drying air temperature was attained
by electrical resistance heating and controlled by the
heating control unit. The air passed from the heating at
the desired temperature and passed to the drying
chamber. The drying air temperature and velocity were
measured directly in the drying chamber. Weighing of
samples inside the drying chamber was done manually
using an electronic balance with a capacity of 0–3000 g
and accuracy of ±0.01 g.
2.2. The experiments
Thin layers of eggplants were dried between 30 and 70
°C at 10 °C interval using the laboratory dryer (Table 1).
The drying air velocity was fixed to 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 m/s.
The weight of each drying sample used in the experi-
ments were changed between 159.8 and 239.4 g. The
drying samples were cut into 0.635, 1.27 and 2.54 cm
slice thickness with a knife and then dipped into boiling
water for 5 min (Ertekin, 2002). Moisture content de-
termination was done by drying the samples at 105 °C
until the weight became constant (Yagcıoglu, 1999). The
colour of the eggplant surface expressed in the L
a
b

system was measured using a Minolta Chromameter
(Guarte, 1996). Re-hydration ratio was determined by
placing the samples for 24 h in distilled water, and then
 C. Ertekin, O. Yaldiz / Journal of Food Engineering 63 (2004) 349–359 351

Table 1 2.3. Mathematical modelling of solar drying curves

Experimental plan
Drying air Drying air Slice Pre-treatment Drying curves were fitted to the experimental data
velocity (m/s) temperature (°C) thickness (cm) using fourteen different moisture ratio equations (Table
Effect of pre-treatment 2). However, the moisture ratio (MR) was simplified to
2.0 60 0.635 Yes M=M0 instead of the ðM  Me Þ=ðM0  Me Þ (Diamente &
No Munro, 1993; Yaldız & Ertekin, 2001; Yaldız et al.,
Effect of slice thickness 2001).
0.635 The reduced v-square, root mean square error
1.0 60 1.27 Yes (RMSE) and modeling efficiency (EF) were used as the
2.54
primary criterion to select the best equation to account
Effect of drying air temperature and velocity for variation in the drying curves of the dried samples
0.5/1.0/2.0 30/40/50/60/70 0.635 Yes (Ozdemir & Devres, 1999; Sarsavadia et al., 1999; Yal-
diz, 2001). Reduced v-square is the mean square of the
weighing the samples (Prabhanjan et al., 1995). Weigh- deviations between the experimental and calculated
ing intervals of the drying samples were 20 min at the values for the models and was used to determine the
initial times of drying process and then it was increased goodness of the fit. The lower the values of the reduced
to 1 h by progressing of the drying process. The air v-square, the better the goodness of the fit. The RMSE
velocity was measured using a hot wire digital ane- gives the deviation between the predicted and experi-
mometer with the accuracy of ±0.1 m/s, and the tem- mental values and it is required to reach zero. The EF
perature using T-type thermocouple with the accuracy also gives the ability of the model and its highest value is
of ±1 °C. 1. These statistical values can be calculated as follows:

Table 2
Mathematical models applied to drying curves
Model name Model Reference
Newton MR ¼ expðktÞ Ayensu (1997), Hummedia and Sheikh (1989), Kassem (1998),
Liu and Bakker-Arkema (1997), Nellist (1987), O’Callaghan,
Menzies, and Bailey (1971), Sarsavadia, Sawhney, Pangavh-
ane, and Singh (1999), Tiris, Ozbalta, Tiris, and Dincer
(1994), Westerman, White, and Ross (1973)
Page MR ¼ expðktn Þ Agrawal and Singh (1977), Bruce (1985), Chhinnan (1984),
Diamente and Munro (1993), Guarte (1996), Hutchinson and
Otten (1982), Pathak, Agrawal, and Singh (1991), Sun and
Woods (1994), Zhang and Litchfield (1991)
Modified Page MR ¼ exp½ðktÞn  Overhults, White, Hamilton, and Ross (1973), White, Bridges,
Loewer, and Ross (1978), White, Ross, and Ponelert (1981),
Yaldız et al. (2001)
Modified Page MR ¼ exp½ðktÞn  Overhults et al. (1973), Ozdemir and Devres (1999), Yaldız
and Ertekin (2001)
Henderson and Pabis MR ¼ a expðktÞ Bengtsson, Rahman, Stanley, and Perera (1998), Bhuyan and
Prasad (1990), Chhinnan (1984), Guarte (1996), Pal and
Chakraverty (1997), Rahman and Perera (1996), Rahman,
Perera, and Thebaud (1998), Westerman et al. (1973),
Yagcioglu et al. (1999)
Logaritmic MR ¼ a expðktÞ þ c Yagcioglu et al. (1999), Yaldız and Ertekin (2001)
Two term MR ¼ a expðk0 tÞ þ b expðk1 tÞ Henderson (1974), Madamba, Driscoll, and Buckle (1996),
Rahman and Perera (1996), Rahman et al. (1998), Verma,
Bucklin, Endan, and Wratten (1985)
Two term exponential MR ¼ a expðktÞ þ ð1  aÞ expðkatÞ Sharaf-Eldeen, Blaisdell, and Spagna (1980), Yaldız et al.
(2001), Yaldız and Ertekin (2001)
Wang and Singh MR ¼ 1 þ at þ bt2 Ozdemir and Devres (1999), Wang and Singh (1978)
Thompson t ¼ a lnðMRÞ þ b½lnðMRÞ2 Paulsen and Thompson (1973), Thompson, Peart, and Foster
(1968), Yaldız and Ertekin (2001)
Diffusion approximation MR ¼ a expðktÞ þ ð1  aÞ expðkbtÞ Kassem (1998), Yaldız and Ertekin (2001)
Verma et al. MR ¼ a expðktÞ þ ð1  aÞ expðgtÞ Verma et al. (1985), Yaldız and Ertekin (2001)
Modified Henderson and MR ¼ a expðktÞ þ b expðgtÞ þ c expðhtÞ Karathanos (1999)
Pabis
Midilli et al. MR ¼ a expðktn Þ þ bt Midilli, Kucuk, and Yapar (2002)
352 C. Ertekin, O. Yaldiz / Journal of Food Engineering 63 (2004) 349–359

PN 2 14.00
2 i¼1 ðMRexp;i  MRpre;i Þ
v ¼ ð1Þ

Moisture content (kg water/kg dry matter)

N n 12.00

sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 10.00
PN 2
i¼1 ðMRi;pre  MRi;exp Þ
RMSE ¼ ð2Þ 8.00
N
6.00
PN 2 PN 2
i¼1 ðMRi;exp  MRi;expmean Þ  i¼1 ðMRi;pre  MRi;exp Þ Pre-treatment
EF ¼ PN 2 4.00
No pre-treatment
i¼1 ðMRi;exp  MRi;expmean Þ

ð3Þ 2.00

where MRexp;i is the ith experimental moisture ratio,
MRpre;i is the ith predicted moisture ratio, N is the
number of observations, n is the number of constants in
drying model and MRexpmean is the mean value of ex-
perimental moisture ratio (Akpınar et al., 2003; Loague
& Green, 1991; Midilli & Kucuk, 2003; Togrul & Peh-
livan, 2002, 2003).
The effects of initial and final moisture content, dry-
ing air temperature, relative humidity and velocity on
the drying constants were investigated by many re-
searchers (Agrawal & Singh, 1977; Anigbankpu, Ram-
sey, & Thompson, 1980; Hummedia & Sheikh, 1989;
Kulkarni, Bhole, & Sawarkar, 1993; Misra & Brooker,
1980; Ozdemir & Devres, 1999; Prabhanjan et al., 1995;
Syarief, Morey, & Gustafson, 1984; Temple & Van
Boxtel, 1999; Verma et al., 1985; Zhang & Litchfield,
1991). In this study, the relationship between the con-
stants of the best mathematical model with the drying
variables of drying air temperature and velocity were
also determined. The effects of temperature and velocity
on the constants and coefficients of the best mathemat-
ical model were investigated by multiple combinations
of the different equations as the simple linear, logarit-
mic, exponential, power and arhenius type (Guarte,
1996);
0.00
0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00 7.00
Drying time (hours)
Fig. 2. Effect of pre-treatment on drying time at drying air temperature
of 60 °C, velocity of 2.0 m/s and slice thickness of 0.635 cm.
3.49 h for reducing the initial moisture content to a final
moisture content of 6% (w.b.). Therefore, pre-treatment
can decrease the drying time about 43.14% at a fixed
drying air temperature of 60 °C, velocity of 2 m/s and
slice thickness of 0.635 cm. While the mean drying rate
was 3.86 kg water per dry matter per hour drying with
pre-treatment, it was 1.89 kg water per dry matter per
hour drying without pre-treatment (Bengtsson et al.,
1998; Dincer, 1996; Karathanos & Belessiotis, 1997;
Rahman & Perera, 1996). Therefore all experiments in
this study were conducted using pre-treated eggplant
samples.
The effect of slice thickness on drying time were
determined at a slice thickness of 0.635, 1.27 and 2.54
cm and at a fixed drying air temperature of 60 °C and
velocity of 1.0 m/s (Fig. 3). When the slice thickness
increased to 1.27 and 2.54 cm, drying time increased by
about 104% and about 294% according to a slice

Linear Y ¼ a þ bX ð4Þ 18.00

Logaritmic Y ¼ a þ b lnðX Þ ð5Þ 16.00

Moisture content (kg water/kg dry matter)

b
Power Y ¼ aX ð6Þ 14.00

Exponential Y ¼ a expðbX Þ ð7Þ 12.00

10.00
Arrhenius Y ¼ a expðb=X Þ ð8Þ
8.00 Slice thickness=0.635cm
Slice thickness=1.27cm
6.00 Slice thickness=2.54cm
3. Results and discussion 4.00

Pre-treatment is a very important factor for the egg- 2.00

plant drying process because it affects the drying time 0.00

(Fig. 2). It also reduces the resistance to moisture 0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00
Drying time (hours)
transport and thereby increasing the drying rate. While
the drying process took 6.11 h without pre-treatment, Fig. 3. Effect of slice thickness on drying time at drying air temperature
drying after pre-treatment resulted in a drying time of of 60 °C, drying air velocity of 1.0 m/s with pre-treated samples.
 C. Ertekin, O. Yaldiz / Journal of Food Engineering 63 (2004) 349–359 353

thickness of 0.635 cm, respectively. Therefore, mean Drying air velocity=0.5 m/s
18.00
drying rate was higher at lower slice thicknesses. While
16.00

Moisture content (kg water/kg dry matter)

the mean drying rate was 2.99 kg water per kg dry
14.00
matter per hour at a slice thickness of 0.635 cm, it was
12.00
0.66 kg water per dry matter per hour at a thickness of
30 C
2.54 cm (Bhuyan & Prasad, 1990; Diamente & Munro, 10.00
40 C
1991). Thinly sliced products dried faster due to the 8.00
50 C
reduced distance the moisture travels and increased 6.00 60 C

surface area exposed for a given volume of the product. 4.00 70 C

Thus, the effects of drying air temperature and velocity 2.00

were determined at the fixed slice thickness of 0.635 0.00
0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00 35.00 40.00 45.00
cm.
Drying time (hours)
It was observed that, one of the main factors influ-
Drying air velocity=1.00 m/s
encing the drying kinetics of the product is the drying 18.00
air temperature during the falling rate drying period.

Moisture content (kg water/kg dry matter)

16.00
The results of the effects of drying air temperature on 14.00
drying time at different drying air velocities showed 12.00
that, an increase in drying air temperature resulted in a 10.00
decrease in the drying time (Fig. 4). To reach a safe final 30 C
8.00
moisture content, the drying time was 4.39 h at a drying 40 C
6.00 50 C
air temperature of 70 °C and increased to 38.44 h at 30 60 C
4.00
°C with a drying air velocity of 0.5 m/s. Then corre- 70 C
2.00
sponding values were 4.15 and 31.46 h at a drying air
0.00
velocity of 1.00 m/s and 3.36 and 16.15 h at velocity of 0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00
2.00 m/s, respectively. The drying rate reached its Drying time (hours)

maximum values at higher drying air temperatures. Drying air velocity=2.00 m/s

Drying rate decreases continuously with decreasing 18.00

moisture content or improving drying time. The mois-

Moisture content (kg water/kg dry matter)

16.00

ture removal inside the eggplant slices were higher at 14.00

higher drying air temperatures, because the migration to 12.00

surface of moisture and evaporation rate from surface 10.00 30 C
to air decrease with decrease of the moisture in the 8.00
40 C

product, the drying rate clearly decrease. While the 6.00

50 C
60 C
mean drying rate was 3.53 kg water per kg dry matter 4.00 70 C
per hour at a drying air temperature of 70 °C and 0.33
2.00
kg water per kg dry matter per hour at a drying air
0.00
temperature of 30 °C at a velocity of 0.5 m/s, it in- 0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 10.00 12.00 14.00 16.00 18.00 20.00
Drying time (hours)
creased to 4.54 kg water per kg dry matter per hour at
70 °C and 0.97 kg water per kg dry matter per hour at a Fig. 4. Effect of drying air temperature on drying time.
velocity of 2.0 m/s (Kassem, 1998; Sarsavadia et al.,
1999; Sun & Woods, 1994; White et al., 1981; Yagcioglu
et al., 1999).
The drying air velocity also has a significant influence drying air temperature of 30 °C (Abe & Afzal, 1997;
on drying curves such as drying air temperature. Drying Guarte, 1996; Sarsavadia et al., 1999; Yaldız & Ertekin,
time decreases with increasing drying air velocity at all 2001).
the drying air temperatures examined (Fig. 5). While it The effects of drying parameters on colour and re-
was 4.39 h at a drying air velocity of 0.5 m/s, it decreased hydration ratio were also evaluated in this paper. The
to 4.15 and then 3.36 h at velocities of 1.00 and 2.00 m/s, colour was measured from the surface and expressed in
respectively, at a drying air temperature of 70 °C. These the L
a
b
system. The parameter L
represents the
values were 38.44, 31.46 and 16.15 h at drying air tem- brightness of the colour, a
the hue range of the colours
peratures of 30 °C, respectively. Mean drying rate was red (+) and green ()), b
hue range of colours yellow (+)
3.53 kg water per kg dry matter per hour at a drying air and blue ()) and then C
the colour saturation calcu-
velocity of 0.5 m/s and increased to 4.54 kg water per kg lated by:
dry matter per hour at a velocity of 2.0 m/s and a drying
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
air temperature of 70 °C. These values were reached to
C
¼ ða
2 þ b
2 Þ ð9Þ
0.33 and 0.98 kg water per kg dry matter per hour at a
354 C. Ertekin, O. Yaldiz / Journal of Food Engineering 63 (2004) 349–359

o o
Drying air temperature=30 C Drying air temperature=50 C
18.00 18.00
Moisture content (kg water/kg dry matter)

Moisture content (kg water/kg dry matter)

16.00 16.00

14.00 14.00

12.00 12.00

10.00 10.00

8.00 8.00
0.50 m/s 0.50 m/s
6.00 6.00
1.00 m/s 1.00 m/s
4.00 2.00 m/s 4.00 2.00 m/s
2.00 2.00

0.00 0.00
0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00 35.00 40.00 45.00 0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 10.00 12.00 14.00 16.00 18.00
Drying time (hours) Drying time (hours)
o o
Drying air temperature=40 C Drying air temperature=60 C

18.00 18.00
Moisture content (kg water/kg dry matter)

Moisture content (kg water/kg dry matter)

16.00 16.00

14.00 14.00

12.00 12.00

10.00 10.00

8.00 8.00
0.50 m/s 0.50 m/s
6.00 6.00
1.00 m/s 1.00 m/s
4.00 2.00 m/s 4.00 2.00 m/s

2.00 2.00

0.00 0.00
0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 10.00 12.00 14.00 16.00 18.00 20.00 0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00 7.00 8.00 9.00
Drying time (hours) Drying time (hours)

o
Drying air temperature=70 C
18.00
Moisture content (kg water/kg dry matter)

16.00

14.00

12.00

10.00

8.00
0.50 m/s
6.00
1.00 m/s
4.00 2.00 m/s

2.00

0.00
0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00
Drying time (hours)

Fig. 5. Effect of drying air velocity at different drying air temperatures on drying time.

The change of colour could be attributed to the The brightness and saturation values of dried eggplant
browning reactions that took place during the drying colour at the examined drying air velocities ranged from
process. From the results, while pre-treatment increased 59.66 to 78.08 and from 22.64 to 27.21, respectively at a
the brightness of the dried eggplant samples and reduced drying air temperature of 30 °C. These values were
the saturation (Pangavhane et al., 1999; Srzednicki, changed to between 47.38 and 55.71 and between 29.47
Joeng, & Driscoll, 1996), slice thickness did not change and 33.83 at a drying air temperature of 70 °C, respec-
these values very much. The variable with most effect on tively. While brightness increased, saturation decreased
colour is drying air temperature followed by air velocity. by increasing the drying air velocity (Fig. 6) (Guarte,
Increasing the drying air temperature decreased the 1996).
brightness and raised the saturation. Browning can According to the evaluation of re-hydration ratio of
be diminished by reducing drying air temperature. the dried samples, the re-hydration ratio increased to
 C. Ertekin, O. Yaldiz / Journal of Food Engineering 63 (2004) 349–359 355

100 100
Brightness, 0.50m/s
Saturation, 0.50m/s
Brightness, 1.00m/s
80 Saturation, 1.00m/s 80
Brightness, 2.00m/s
Brightness, L*

Saturation, 2.00m/s

Saturation, C*
60 60

40 40

20 20

0 0
30 40 50 60 70
o
Drying air temperature ( C)

Fig. 6. The effect of drying air temperature and velocity on colour of

the eggplant surface.
Fig. 8. The effect of drying air temperature and velocity on re-hydra-
tion ratio.

14.00
100 Drying rate (kg water/kg dry matter.hour)
90 12.00
Re-hydration ratio (%)

80
10.00
70
60 8.00
50
40 6.00

30
4.00 0.50 m/s
20 1.00 m/s
10 2.00 m/s
2.00
0
Pre-treatment No pre-treatment
0.00
0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 10.00 12.00 14.00 16.00 18.00
Drying time (hours)

100
Fig. 9. Drying rate changes with drying time at the fixed drying air
90
temperature of 50 °C and different drying air velocities.
Re-hydration ratio (%)

80
70
60
50 All the drying processes occurred in falling rate
40 drying period, starting from the initial moisture con-
30
tent to a final moisture content of 6% (w.b.) (Fig. 9)
20
(Pangavhane et al., 1999; Tulasidas, Raghavan, &
10
Norris, 1993; Yaldız et al., 2001). As indicated in these
0
0.635 1.270 2.540 curves, there is no constant rate drying period in the
Slice thickness (cm)
drying of eggplants. The most effectual force govern-
Fig. 7. Effect of pre-treatment and slice thickness on re-hydration ratio. ing the moisture movement in the eggplants was dif-
fusion.
According to the results of RMSE and chi-square
values of all the thin layer drying models for all drying
37.98% without pre-treatment. However, increasing slice conditions, the Midilli et al. model gave the lowest val-
thickness increased this ratio from 25.46% at a slice ues and thus it was choosen to represent the thin layer
thickness of 0.635 cm to 33.60% at a slice thickness of drying of eggplant. While RMSE was changed between
2.54 cm (Fig. 7). Re-hydration ratio increased by in- 0.0021 and 0.1864 for all examined models, this value
creasing drying air velocities and changed to between was changed between 0.0005 and 0.0170 for Midilli et al.
28.46% and 51.43% at different drying air temperatures. model according to the different experimental condi-
It reached a maximum value at drying air temperatures tions. The drying constants (k) and (b) and coefficients
of 50 °C (Fig. 8). (a) and (n) values and also statistical parameters as
356 C. Ertekin, O. Yaldiz / Journal of Food Engineering 63 (2004) 349–359

Table 3
Statistical results of Midilli et al. model and its’ constants and coefficients at different drying conditions
Drying air tem- Drying air a k (h1 ) n b (h1 ) RMSE EF v2
perature (°C) velocity (m/s)
ANO ¼ MM0 ¼ a expðktn Þ þ bt

30 0.50 1.00561 0.23216 0.72955 )0.00122 0.0112 0.9985 0.000140

1.00 1.00569 0.39528 0.94521 0.00042 0.0101 0.9987 0.000132
2.00 1.00998 0.62316 0.77846 0.00036 0.0170 0.9971 0.000433
40 0.50 1.00798 0.44278 1.01683 0.00070 0.0118 0.9987 0.000202
1.00 0.99582 0.59059 0.95543 0.00039 0.0112 0.9988 0.000211
2.00 0.99582 0.64471 1.01418 )0.00064 0.0112 0.9987 0.000180
50 0.50 1.00413 0.59288 1.06690 0.00092 0.0144 0.9980 0.000324
1.00 0.99960 0.63200 1.15127 0.00053 0.0020 1.0000 0.000006
2.00 0.99728 1.12611 1.12650 )0.00093 0.0062 0.9997 0.000064
60 0.50 0.99998 0.79429 1.13847 0.00065 0.0005 1.0000 0.000000
1.00 0.99605 0.89019 1.15033 )0.00082 0.0099 0.9993 0.000196
2.00 0.99934 1.44531 1.13217 0.00034 0.0030 0.9999 0.000016
70 0.50 0.99972 1.01612 1.33371 0.00113 0.0045 0.9998 0.000034
1.00 1.00003 1.14833 1.24952 0.00111 0.0013 1.0000 0.000003
2.00 0.99581 1.38065 1.21431 0.00007 0.0073 0.9995 0.000083

RMSE, chi-square and EF were given in Table 3 for
different experimental conditions. It is clear that, RMSE
and chi-square values were very low and changed be-
tween 0.0005 and 0.0170 and 0.000000 and 0.000433,
respectively. Modeling efficiency (EF) also ranged from
0.9980 and 1.0000. This model represented the experi-
mental values satisfactorily.
When we examined the effect of drying air tempera-
ture and velocity on Midilli et al. models’ constants and
coefficients by multiple regression, the most suitable
result of the model were given in Table 4. RMSE values
were changed between 0.01623 and 0.11702 and chi-
square between 0.000477 and 0.021109 for different
experimental conditions. EF also changed between
0.83544 and 0.99803. It can be seen that, this model was
in good agreement with the experimental results.
Changes of experimental and predicted moisture ratio
values with drying time are given in Fig. 10.
Validation of the established model was made by
comparing the experimental moisture ratio values with
the predicted ones in any particular drying experiment
under certain conditions. The experimental and predicted

Table 4
Effects of drying air temperature and velocity on Midilli et al. model and its’ results
Drying air temperature (°C) Drying air velocity (m/s) RMSE EF v2
30 0.50 0.11702 0.83544 0.017688
1.00 0.01675 0.99628 0.000477
2.00 0.05727 0.96731 0.007872
40 0.50 0.01963 0.99634 0.000835
1.00 0.02353 0.99479 0.001846
2.00 0.02908 0.99111 0.001833
50 0.50 0.02428 0.99433 0.001621
1.00 0.01779 0.99668 0.000686
2.00 0.06153 0.96766 0.012618

60 0.50 0.01841 0.99608 0.001130

1.00 0.01623 0.99803 0.002108
2.00 0.06849 0.95794 0.021109
70 0.50 0.05040 0.97687 0.008469
1.00 0.01934 0.99676 0.002993
2.00 0.02506 0.99448 0.001728
 
MR ¼ MM0 ¼ ½a þ b lnðV Þ exp ðcT d Þtðeþf lnðV ÞÞ þ gt. a ¼ 0:98979, b ¼ 0:08071, c ¼ 0:00160, d ¼ 1:55945, e ¼ 1:09877, f ¼ 0:29745, g ¼ 0:00062.
 C. Ertekin, O. Yaldiz / Journal of Food Engineering 63 (2004) 349–359 357

o o
Drying air temperature=30 C Drying air temperature=50 C
1.00 1.00
0.5 m/s-Experimental 0.5 m/s-Experimental
0.90 0.90
0.5 m/s-Predicted 0.5 m/s-Predicted
0.80 0.80
1.0 m/s-Experimental 1.0 m/s-Experimental
0.70 0.70

Moisture ratio
Moisture ratio

1.0 m/s-Predicted 1.0 m/s-Predicted

0.60 0.60
2.0 m/s-Experimental 2.0 m/s-Experimental
0.50 0.50
2.0 m/s-Predicted 2.0 m/s-Predicted
0.40 0.40
0.30 0.30
0.20 0.20
0.10 0.10
0.00 0.00
0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00 35.00 40.00 45.00 0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0 12.0 14.0 16.0 18.0
Drying time (hours) Drying time (hours)

o o
Drying air temperature=40 C Drying air temperature=60 C
1.00 1.00
0.5 m/s-Experimental 0.5 m/s-Experimental
0.90 0.90
0.5 m/s-Predicted 0.5 m/s-Predicted
0.80 0.80
1.0 m/s-Experimental 1.0 m/s-Experimental
0.70 0.70
Moisture ratio

1.0 m/s-Predicted

Moisture ratio
1.0 m/s-Predicted
0.60 0.60
2.0 m/s-Experimental 2.0 m/s-Experimental
0.50 0.50
2.0 m/s-Predicted 2.0 m/s-Predicted
0.40 0.40
0.30 0.30
0.20 0.20
0.10 0.10
0.00 0.00
0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00 7.00 8.00 9.00
0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 10.00 12.00 14.00 16.00 18.00 20.00
Drying time (hours) Drying time (hours)

o
Drying air temperature=70 C
1.00
0.5 m/s-Experimental
0.90
0.5 m/s-Predicted
0.80
1.0 m/s-Experimental
0.70
Moisture ratio

1.0 m/s-Predicted
0.60
2.0 m/s-Experimental
0.50
2.0 m/s-Predicted
0.40
0.30
0.20
0.10
0.00
0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00

Drying time (hours)

Fig. 10. Experimental and predicted moisture ratio changes with drying time at different drying air temperatures.

moisture ratio values laid around the straight line (Fig. brightness and decreased saturation. The highest re-
11). This makes clear that, this model could be used to hydration ratio was obtained at a drying air temperature
explain thin layer drying behaviour of eggplant. of 50 °C, while increasing drying air velocity also in-
creased it.
Results of thin layer modeling shown that, the Midilli
4. Conclusions et al. model could be used to explain moisture transfer in
eggplant. This model could be used between drying air
Pre-treatment decreased drying time, and increased temperatures between 30 and 70 °C and velocities be-
the brightness of the dried samples, but decreased the re- tween 0.5 and 2.0 m/s.
hydration ratio. While increasing slice thickness raised
the drying time and re-hydration ratio, it did not effect
the colour. Drying time decreased with increasing drying Acknowledgement
air temperature and velocity. Increasing drying air
temperature decreased brightness and raised saturation. This paper was made possible by funding from the
In contrast, increasing drying air velocity increased Research Fund of Akdeniz University.
358 C. Ertekin, O. Yaldiz / Journal of Food Engineering 63 (2004) 349–359

Drying air velocity=0.5 m/s Bruce, D. M. (1985). Exposed layer barley drying-three model fitted
1.00 to new data up to 150 °C. Journal of Agricultural Engineering
0.90
Research, 32, 337–347.
Predicted moisture ratio

0.80
0.70 Chhinnan, M. S. (1984). Evaluation of selected mathematical models
0.60 30 C
40 C
for describing thin-layer drying of in-shell pecans. Transactions of
0.50
0.40 50 C the ASAE, 27, 610–615.
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0.20
0.10
70 C various pre-treatments for the dehydration of banana and selection
0.00 of suitable drying models. Journal of Food Engineering, 55, 139–
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Experimental moisture ratio
Diamente, L. M., & Munro, P. A. (1991). Mathematical modeling of
Drying air velocity=1.0 m/s hot air drying of sweet potato slices. International Journal of Food
1.00 Science and Technology, 26, 99–109.
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Predicted moisture ratio

0.80
0.70 the thin layer solar drying of sweet potato slices. Solar Energy,
30 C
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0.50 40 C
0.40 50 C
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0.30
60 C
1827–1838.
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0.70
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0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30
Experimental moisture ratio
Fig. 11. Experimental and predicted moisture ratio at different drying
conditions.
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