Journal of Food Engineering 222 (2018) 267e275

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Journal of Food Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jfoodeng

Refractance window drying of foods: A review

L.M. Raghavi, J.A. Moses*, C. Anandharamakrishnan**
Computational Modeling and Nanoscale Processing Unit, Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology (IIFPT), Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Govt.
of India, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Novel drying techniques emerging as outcome of laboratory-based research may yet prove to have a
Received 22 July 2017 positive impact on the food industry in terms of scalability, energy efficiency, cost and end-product
Received in revised form quality. Refractance window drying is one such technique that gained a lot of attention in recent
10 November 2017
years, owing to the numerous benefits it claims. The technique involves drying purees and liquids placed
Accepted 21 November 2017
Available online 22 November 2017
over a thin infrared transparent film that essentially forms a ‘window’ through which drying occurs.
Importantly, product temperatures are kept low and rapid drying occurs as all three modes of heat
transfer are involved. Refractance window drying has found several applications not only in food in-
Keywords:
Refractance window
dustries but also in pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, cosmetic and pigment handling industries. The
Novel drying objective of this work is to present the recent trends in refractance window drying of foods with
Product quality emphasis on the underlying mechanism and effect on product quality. A case study on refractance
Energy consumption window drying of mango pulp is presented for improve understanding on the topic. Refractance window
Rapid drying drying has the potential to produce high quality dried slices, purees and juices. Research suggests that
active aromatic and pigment compounds responsible for characteristic sensory and nutritional attributes
can be retained through this technique.
© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
2. Components and working of a RW™ drying system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
3. The contact film . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
4. Energy consumption in RW™ drying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
5. Thermal efficiency of RW™ drying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
6. Changes in product quality during RW™ drying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
7. Case study on RW™ drying of mango powder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
8. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
Web references . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

1. Introduction removing moisture from food materials. The final product may be
in the form of sheet, flakes, film, powder, or granules. An additional
Drying describes a complex heat and mass transfer process of size reduction step may be involved based on product re-
quirements. Drying is an energy intensive unit operation, ac-
counting to around 12e20% of the total energy consumed in the
manufacturing industry (Raghavan et al., 2005). Nevertheless, dried
* Corresponding author. products are more stable to microbial contamination and other
** Corresponding author.
deteriorative chemical reactions, apart from facilitating storage and
E-mail addresses: moses.ja@iifpt.edu.in (J.A. Moses), c.anandharamakrishnan@
gmail.com (C. Anandharamakrishnan). minimizing transportation costs.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2017.11.032
0260-8774/© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
268 L.M. Raghavi et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 222 (2018) 267e275
Over 85% of industrial dryers are convective, with either hot air
or combustion gases as the media for heat transfer (Zarein et al.,
2015); often resulting in significant levels of changes in product
quality from the initial ‘fresh-like’ form. Basically, these are gas-
solid contact operations working on gradients in water vapour
pressures. Further, in most cases, conventional drying methods
produce inferior quality products and require higher drying times
(Moses et al., 2013, 2014b). There is a strong need for developing
alternative drying technologies considering operational capacity,
process control, time requirements, cost economics, product qual-
ity, safety and environmental aspects. Novel drying technologies
are intelligent combinations of conventional technologies necessi-
tated by changes in consumer and market requirement.
Drying technologies belong to first, second, third or fourth
generation. Cabinet and bed type dryers such as kiln, tray, truck
tray, rotary flow conveyor and tunnel using hot air as the medium
of heat transfer belong to first generation and better suit solid
materials including food grains and horticultural commodities.
Spray and drum dryers are second generation technologies and
better suit slurries and pastes that require to be dried in the form of
flakes and powders. Dreeze dehydration and osmotic dehydration
belong to third generation of drying technologies (Vega-Mercado
et al., 2001). Microwave drying, infrared drying, heat pump dry-
ing, fluidized bed drying, radio frequency drying and refractance
window (RW™) drying are considered as fourth generation drying
technologies based on the type of raw materials they can handle
and the retention of quality attributes of the intended products
(Chou and Chua, 2001).
Among these methods, RW™ drying is a recent non-thermal
method for drying products (Forero et al., 2015) including heat-
sensitive purees (Nindo et al., 2003a), and slices (Ochoa-Martínez
et al., 2012) of fruits and vegetables. Recently, Rostami et al.
(2017) reported the potential of using RW™ drying for
manufacturing meat powders. With numerous advantages, this
direct drying technology has found several applications in the
algae, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, cosmetic and pigment
handling industries (GW dryers, 2017; Nindo et al., 2003b; Caparino
et al., 2012; Ortiz-Jerez et al., 2015).
The technique is already reportedly used for commercial ap-
plications by MCD Technologies, Tacoma and Mt. Capra, Washing-
ton for drying of whey and other products (Mt Capra, 2017).
Commercial dryers also dry a range of products; including brine
shrimps, micro-algae and herbal formulations (Food Online, 2017).
Unlike certain other drying technologies, RW™ drying does not
require high operational pressures. Also, there is limited scope to
oxidation and free radical formation and RW™ dried products offer
improved shelf life. (Mt Capra, 2017).
The objective of this work is to present the recent trends in
refractance window drying of foods. Detailed descriptions about
typical dryer components and the mechanisms of heat and mass
transfer during the drying process are presented. This review also
includes an exhaustive summary on changes in product quality
during RW™ drying of foods as compared to other drying methods
such as tray, spray and freeze drying, based on available published
works till date. In comparison with several conventional drying
approaches, RW™ drying is known to offer superior quality pow-
ders and flakes at relatively lower operation costs and time re-
quirements. To give a complete understanding on the topic, aspects
of energy requirements and thermal efficiency calculations are also
presented.
2. Components and working of a RW™ drying system
“Drying of viscous solutions and suspensions spread in flexible
supports was named as Cast-Tape Drying e CTD” (Durigon et al.,
2016, 2017). The RW™ drying technique is a variant of the CTD
technique (Zotarelli et al., 2017) patented by Magoon (1986) and
developed by MCD Technologies Inc. (Tacoma, WA) (MCD
Technologies, 2017). The major components of a typical RW™
drying system are presented in Fig. 1. Essentially, evenly applied
food materials over a thin infrared transparent material (such as
pyrex glass) or polyethylene film (such as Mylar® film) resting over
the surface of water get heated (Baeghbali et al., 2010; Rostami
et al., 2017). The film material can either be moving or stationary.
In a moving film configuration, the food is usually moved co-
currently with the hot water, with belt velocities between 0.6 and
3 m/min (Kudra and Mujumdar, 2009). Thermal energy carried by
the circulating water (maintained between 94 and 98
C) transmits
sensible heat through the film to the food material spread as a thin
layer over the film by conduction and radiation. This approach is
characteristic to the RW™ technique. Water in the food is quickly
evaporated owing to rapid transfer of heat energy, resulting in a
state of thermal equilibrium. Additionally, radiation effects are also
evident; depending on the material properties.
This mechanism ideally involves a ‘window’ through which heat
and mass transfer occurs. This window allows the passage of
infrared energy through the moist material placed on the plastic
membrane's surface. Less than half of the total thermal radiation
reaches the food material spread over the film (Zotarelli et al.,
2015). Heat gets transferred to the water molecules directly and
product temperatures can reach up to 74
C (Castodi et al., 2015)
(though a maximum of 39
Ce47
C in most cases; Bolland, 2000)
and are highly dependent on moisture content, bed thickness and
product consistency. As the product loses its moisture, the drying
‘window closes’ and ‘refracts’ back into the heated water source,
particularly with increase in refractive index that results in thermal
radiation getting reflected back into water. Zotarelli et al. (2015)
analyzed heat transfer fluxes during the RW™ drying process and
concluded that infrared emissions of the hot water account only to
around 3% of the total heat supplied to the product during the
constant rate drying period. Conduction effects continue to support
moisture evaporation until the product reaches critical moisture
content. Associated evaporative cooling effects (justifying why
product temperature is always lesser than the temperature of water
at any point of drying) occur during latter stages of drying. With
reduction in the rate of heat transfer, the product is protected from
overheating (Ortiz-Jerez et al., 2015).
At the end of drying process, the product is cooled down by
moving over cold water and separated from the belt by a scraper
device (Nindo and Tang, 2007). This is essentially done to bring
down the product's temperature below the glass transition tem-
perature and avoid product stickiness (Azizi et al., 2017). The
circulating water is often reused after reheating to improve the
thermal efficiency of the system. The entire process occurs under
Fig. 1. Schematic Diagram of a RW™ Drying System (Source: Moses et al., 2014a
adapted from Nindo et al., 2003a,b).
 L.M. Raghavi et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 222 (2018) 267e275
atmospheric conditions. Accordingly, RW™ drying is a contact,
indirect, film-drying technique (Nindo and Tang, 2007) which also
avoids product cross-contamination during drying.
3. The contact film
During RW™ drying, all three modes of heat transfer are active.
Though in typical cases the heat transfer due to conduction is
dominant, the relative role of each mode of heat transfer depends
on the resistance of water each mode offers (Ortiz-Jerez et al.,
2015). While conduction, convection and radiation occur at the
hot water-film interface, conduction and radiation occur through
the film and convection occurs at the air-film interface.
The transport of thermal radiation through the plastic film can
be estimated based on the optical properties of the polyester film
(Krimm, 1960). Most relevant films are poor conductors to thermal
energy. Tsilingiris (2003) reported that most polymer films have
low transmissions (7e12 mm) and high transmissions (>12 mm)
(Ortiz-Jerez et al., 2015). The minimum total transmittance of
Mylar® occurring near wavelengths of 6.5 and 14.5 mm has been
given by Oritz-Jerez et al. (2015). In fact, Mylar® is the most suc-
cessfully adopted film material for RW™ drying systems with
thermal conductivity of 0.24 W/mK, density of 1.39 g/cm3 and
specific heat of 0.28 Cal/g/
C at ambient conditions (DuPont Teijin
Films, 2003; Ortiz-Jerez and Ochoa-Martínez, 2015). Extensive
work requires to be taken up to understand the properties of
different film materials, particularly in terms of its behavior to
refract light.
Any minor variation in thickness, chemical composition and
measurement procedure can cause significant changes in the op-
tical properties of the Mylar® sheet. For example, at a source
temperature of 90
C, the change in film thickness from 0.2 to
0.1 mm would result in ~128% increase in total transmittance
(Ortiz-Jerez et al., 2015). Water exhibits high absorptivities and
high transmissivity (~90%) to infrared radiation through Mylar®
films at wavelengths 3e8 mm (Sandu, 1986). The high moisture
content of products in RW™ drying implies that absorption of ra-
diation by the pulp will be in similar ranges as that of pure water
(Zotarelli et al., 2015). At these wavelengths, the transmittance of
Mylar® ranges between 0 and 88%; decreasing as the wavelength
increases.
4. Energy consumption in RW™ drying
At the film-product interface, intense evaporation takes place as
transmitted thermal energy gets absorbed by the high-moisture
product. This is supported by evaporation of product moisture at
the product-air interface (Ortiz-Jerez and Ochoa-Martínez, 2015)
also suggested the possibility of evaporative cooling at the film-
product interface due to air gap formations and associated effects.
Thermal efficiency of RW™ drying systems are usually in the range
of 52e77%; comparable to drum drying. On the other hand, hot air
drying systems offer only 50% efficiency of RW™ dryers (Strumillo
et al., 1995). Though capacities are much lower than rotary dryers,
RW™ drying systems have comparable operational capacity with
spray dryers and drum dryers (Mujumdar and Menon. 1995;
Kostoglou and Korapantsios, 2003; Nindo and Tang, 2007). RW™
drying systems cost ~30e50% of freeze dryers and require <50%
energy to dry the same mass of product (Nindo and Tang, 2007). A
major fraction of the total energy consumed in RW™ drying sys-
tems relates to evaporative effects. A comparison between energy
consumption of selected drying techniques with that of RW™
drying is presented in Table 2.
Nindo and Tang (2007) reported that RW™ drying systems
require 50e70% lesser capital costs and can be operated with 50%
269
lesser energy as compared with freeze drying processes. Baeghbali
and Niakousari (2015) reported 33% lesser energy requirement
values for RW™ drying as compared with spray drying. Energy
requirements of any unit operation are crucial in the industry
perspective. The following section presents an approach to evaluate
the thermal efficiency of a typical RW™ drying system. Apart from
savings in energy, from the commercial point of view, RW™ drying
systems can be a low-cost scalable option for continuous produc-
tion of high quality powders.
5. Thermal efficiency of RW™ drying
RW™ drying is characterized with high evaporation capacities
of up to 10 kg m2 h1 (as observed in studies conducted on 2 mm
thick mango pulp spread over a film in contact with water at 95
C)
(Zotarelli et al., 2015). Typical RW™ drying times range from 3 to
5 min (Celli et al., 2016). The approach used by Nindo et al. (2003a)
for an accurate energy audit considering a RW™ dryer operated
with natural gas supplied steam boiler is presented below. Total
sensible heating ðQsp Þ of product during the drying is given by Eq.
(1).
Qsp ¼ mp  Cp  DT (1)
where, mp is mass of product processed per unit time (kg/h), Cp is
average specific heat of product and DT is average rise in temper-
ature of the product (
C).
Further, heat lost by convection from the surface of the product
(QA) is calculated by Eq. (2) considering the Reynolds Number
(Re ¼ uvairairD QUOTE QUOTE ), where uair is average air velocity (m/s),
vair is kinematic viscosity of air (m2/s) and D is width of the belt (m).
Nussett number (Nu) is related as
haf L 1 1
Nu ¼ 0:644  0:664 Re2 Pr 3 for 0:6  Pr  1:0 (2)
K
where, haf is the convective heat transfer coefficient between air
and film (W/m2
C), k is thermal conductivity of air (W/m
C), L is
belt length (m) and Pris the Prandtl Number. Heat transfer co-
efficient between air and bottom plate of the water flume ðhab Þmay
be determined using Eq. (3).
hab L 1
Nu ¼ ¼ 0:27Ra4L (3)
k
where,
g bðTs  T∞ ÞL3
Rayleigh number; RaL ¼ (4)
va
in which, g is acceleration due to gravity (m/s2), b is coefficient of
volumetric thermal expansion of air (K1), n is kinematic viscosity
of air (m2/s), a is thermal diffusivity of air (m2/s), Ts is temperature
of the bottom surface of the dryer and T∞ is temperature of the
surrounding air (
C). Heat loss from the bottom of the plate is
calculated as Eq. (5).
QB ¼ Ap  hab  ðTs  T∞ Þ (5)
where, Ap is the effective heating surface area, Ts is temperature of
bottom surface of dryer and T∞ is temperature of air (
C) and Tair is
temperature of air (
C). Radiant heat losses are expressed as Eq. (6).
 
QR ¼ εsAs Ts4  T∞
4
(6)
where, ε is the surface emissivity, s is Stefan-Boltzman constant
270 L.M. Raghavi et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 222 (2018) 267e275
(5.67x108 W/m2K4), and As is surface area (m2). The energy for
moisture evaporation (Qev1) was estimated as Eq. (7).

effectively be used to dry high sugar products that are otherwise
Qev1 ¼ Qing  Qsp þ thermal losses
in which energy input from gas consumption (Qin-g) is calculated as
Eq. (8).
   3
kJ m with acceptable viability and that (2) they have the capability to
Qing ¼ hsce  calorific value  gas consumption
m3 g reduce inoculums populations of coliforms and E.coli by up to
where, hsce is gas to steam conversion efficiency. By measuring the
drying rate (kg H2O/s) and the latent heat of vaporization of water,
lL (taken as 2336kJ/kg at 95
C), energy used for moisture evapo-
ration is calculated using Eq. (10).
Qev2 ¼ lL  drying rate
Hence, the overall thermal efficiency (TE) for the dryer is:
Qev1þev2 þ Qsp
TE ¼ x 100%
Net energy input for the drying
6. Changes in product quality during RW™ drying
All known designs of RW™ drying systems for foods operate
under atmospheric pressure. In general, the product to be dried
requires being milled/chopped as suspensions, pastes or slurries
before being uniformly spread on the film's surface. With minimal
effects of the physico-chemical properties, the technique has also
been for rapid reduction in moisture content of oil reduced avocado
pulp (Da Silva and Da Silva, 2015). With lesser product tempera-
tures, RW™ drying is known to offer dried products of high quality
combined with lesser drying time requirements. The process can
dry raspberry puree from 92% moisture to a less than 4% moisture
in around 5 min (Food Online, 2017). Like most techniques, prod-
ucts being dried first go through a constant drying rate period that
is heavily dependent on product thickness. For example, increase in
product thickness from 2 to 3 mm resulted in around 40% decrease
in drying rates of mango pulp. Absorption of transmitted radiation
by the product is governed by Beer's law and higher product
thickness implies lesser effects due to infrared radiation (Zotarelli
et al., 2015).
Moisture sorption isotherms explain type III patterns for RW™
dried powders (Zotarelli et al., 2017). Nindo et al. (2003b) reported
the changes in moisture content of pumpkin puree in a RW™ dryer.
Puree moisture reduced by around 80% when spread over a belt
moving at 2.98 m/min over hot water at 95
C in the first one-third
of total drying time of 4.5 min. In the course of drying, reflectivity
values of pulp increase while absorptivity values decrease (Clarke,
2004; Nindo and Tang, 2007; Zotarelli et al., 2015).
There is no requirement for chemical additives in RW™ drying.
Higher quality products are generally obtained through RW™
drying at reduced drying times (Table 1). This is justified with the
work conducted by Abonyi et al. (2002) on RW™ drying of straw-
berry puree. With initial gain in sensible heat by around 50
C in
60 s, product moisture content (in kg H2O/kg solid) drastically
reduced from around 4.8 to <0.2 in less than 4 min as the product
moved across a belt length of ~2.5 m. Among various sensory at-
tributes, colour is a critical decider of product quality (Vithu and
Moses, 2016) and RW™ drying in most cases results in lower DE
values as compared with other drying techniques (Jafari et al.,
2016).
Nindo and Tang (2007) also suggest that the RW™ approach can
(7) difficult to dry using other techniques, including spray drying.
Another set of interesting findings from Nindo et al. (2003a,b) and
Nindo and Tang (2007) is that RW™ systems can: (1) even be
operated with product temperatures not exceeding 30
C, making it
suitable to dry microbial cultures (and other bioactive constituents)
(8) 106 CFU/ml.
Nevertheless, their effects on polysaccharides causing irrevers-
ible structural modifications and changes in physiological and
pharmacological characteristics need to be thoroughly examined;
particularly for food sources rich in bioactives (Minjares-Fuentes
et al., 2017). For example, the same authors reported significant
losses (around 40%) in acemannan and degradation of galactose
(9) present in Aloe vera when dried using different techniques
including RW™ drying. They explained this to have occurred
because of structural and compositional modifications and reduc-
tion in molecular weight during the drying process. However,
10 acemannan yield was higher in case of RW™ dried samples as
compared with spray dried, industrial freeze dried and radiant zone
dried samples. Unlike bioactives in Aloe vera, RW™ dried pome-
granate pestils showed higher retention of anthocyanins, punica-
lagin and ellagic acid (Tontul and Topuz, 2017). Similar results were
reported by Celli et al. (2016) based on studies conducted on haskap
berries in which RW™ dried pomegranate juice offered higher
anthocyanin content, anthocyanin colour, antioxidant activity and
powder solubility. RW™ dried purple potatoes exhibited significant
increase in total phenolics as compared to raw tubers, providing
scope for development of healthy value-added food products from
coloured potatoes (Nayak et al., 2011).
Product temperature is a critical decider of end-product quality
and the effects of choosing forced or natural convection as modes to
remove evaporating surface moisture significantly affect tempera-
ture profiles at different sub-layers of the product spread over the
film. This is explained in detail by Ortiz-Jerez and Ochoa-Martínez
(2015) considering the effects of varying heat transfer coefficient. In
general, for the same level of temperature in the contact medium
(water in the case of RW™ drying and air in the case of convective
air drying), the relative product temperature gains in RW™ is
significantly lower than those in convective air drying, justifying
direct implications on improved product quality (Sojak et al., 2014).
Based on studies conducted using circulating water baths main-
tained at 90
C, it may be concluded that temperatures reached by
the Mylar® films would be around 10
C lesser than the tempera-
ture of hot water in the bath (Ortiz-Jerez and Ochoa-Martínez,
2015).
Product moisture and storage temperature directly affect stor-
age stability of RW™ dried powders (Caparino et al., 2013). Studies
on RW™ dried mango powder inferred that higher storage tem-
perature can also result in powder darkening, reduction in ascorbic
acid and b-carotene levels, caking, and deteriorative changes in
product texture. Head space gas composition and packaging type
are also other essential considerations during storage of RW™
dried products (Caparino et al., 2017). Based on their studies on açaí
juice, Pavan et al. (2012) concluded that RW™ drying produces
powders with low water activity and good storage stability.
Except few studies such as those on RW™ of carrots, there is
limited knowledge on the effect of this technique on the quality and
behavior of other vegetables and roots (Herna
ndez-Santos et al.,
2016). Rostami et al. (2017) showed that the approach can be
effectively used for drying highly perishable foods such as meat.
Meat based protein rich powders with minimal risk to microbial
Table 1
Selected studies on refractance window drying in comparison with other drying technologies (in terms of quality).

Product Drying conditions Physico- Results References

chemical
Refractance window Other techniques Refractance window Other techniques
property
evaluated

Thawed frozen Effective surface drying area ofFreeze drying Colour Showed characteristic DE value of spray dried Caparino
mango puree 1.10 m2; belt length of 1.83 m; (20 Pa vacuum pressure; plate yellow colour than the powder ¼ 9.22 ± 0.01 et al., 2012


temperature of hot circulating temperature of 20 C; and freeze dried powder;
water: 95e97
C condenser temperature of 60
C) higher chroma and hue
Spray drying values;
(air temperature at 190 ± 2
C at DE value of RW dried
inlet and 90 ± 2
C at outlet; flow powder ¼ 1.22 ± 0.02
rate of 50 ± 2 g/min) Bulk density Freeze and spray dried
and porosity powder had significantly
Drum drying lower bulk densities and
(external diameter and length of higher porosities
hollow drum was 0.15 m and compared to RW dried
0.19 m, respectively with powder
clearance of 0.01 mm; drums were Hygroscopicity There was no significant difference between
internally heated using steam at hygroscopicity of RW and freeze dried powders
379.2 ± 7 kPa producing a
temperature of ~152
C)
Blanched Aspargus Temperature of circulating water: Combined microwave spouted bed Colour Dried product showed Asparagus tips tray dried Nindo et al.,
slices of 2e4 mm 95e97
C drying similar greenness as at 60
C underwent 2003b
thickness (1.5 kW, 2450 MHz) freeze dried product significant changes in
colour (DE ¼ 26)
Freeze drying Total Dried asparagus
(plate, condenser temperature was antioxidant showed significantly
20
C, 64
C, respectively; absolute activity higher values than tray
pressure was maintained at dried and combined
3.3 kPa) microwave spouted
Tray drying bed drying
(temperatures were maintained at Ascorbic acid Highest retention
50, 60 and 70
C) content compared to all other
drying methods
Tomato Three time-temperature Convective drying Bulk density Higher values for the 0.6281 g/m3 Abul-Fadl
combinations: 40 min, 90
C; with preheated air at 2.1 m/s dried product and
60 min, 75
C and 75 min, 60
C (0.8218 g/m3) Ghanem,
2011
Solubility of 63.16%e65.94% 54.66%
dried powder
Rehydration 3.14e3.24 2.95
ratio
Mango 0.26 mm thick plastic film; water Tray dryer at 60
C temperature Water activity 25% lesser drying time e Ochoa-
slices of 1 and at 95
C and 0.52 m/s average air velocity to reduce aw to 0.5 Martínez
2 mm thickness Colour Reduction in b values
Increase in b values; et al., 2012
similar a values;
similar DE values at
90
C


Loquat 0.03 mm thick polyurethane panel Hot air dryer at 60 C and air Total phenolic 328.24 and 323.67 mg/ 312.66 and 320.31 mg/ El-Safy,
slices of 5 mm insulated bath velocity of 1.0 m/s content 100 g for 100 g for halogen oven 2014
thickness Solar dryer at 30e60
C RW dried samples at (dried at 90
C, 80
C,
dipped in 0.5% Halogen oven dryer 90, 80
C, respectively respectively
sodium with a heat source of 1300 W and 326.12 and 302.74 mg/
metabisulphate fan with 1500 rpm 100 g for solar dried and
solution for hot air dried samples,
5 min respectively
Total Maximum retention
carotenoids compared to all other
methods
Colour Best colour intensity
(saturation) values
Thawed frozen Effective length 1.83 m; air at 20
C Drum drying (2 counter rotating Colour Higher L, a, b & chroma Freeze dried carrot Abonyi
carrot puree and 52% Relative humidity; drums of 19 cm diameter rotating values; more saturated puree exhibited brighter et al., 2002
temperature of hot water at 95
C; at 0.3 rpm; residence time of red and yellow colors colour
belt speed ranging from 0.45 to 3 min; drum surface temperature Carotene 8.7, 7.4 and 9.9% losses Freeze dried samples Nindo et al.,
0.58 m/min of 138
C) retention in total carotene, a- showed 4, 2.4 and 5.4% 2003a
Freeze drying (absolute pressure carotene and b- losses in total carotene,
of 3.3 kPa; plate temperature of carotene, respectively a-carotene and b-


20 C; condenser carotene, respectively
temperature 64
C)
Frozen strawberry Effective length 1.83 m; air at 20
C Spray drying (inlet air temperature Colour Relatively brighter Spray dried samples Abonyi
and 52% Relative humidity; at 190 ± 5
C and outlet air than fresh puree; showed low chroma et al., 2002
temperature of hot water at 95
C; temperature at 95 ± 5
C) higher hue and L value
belt speed ranging from 0.45 to Freeze drying (absolute pressure values; superior to
0.58 m/min of 3.3 kPa; plate temperature of spray dried powder


20 C; condenser Ascorbic acid 6 ± 1.3% loss in 6.4 ± 1.6% loss in


temperature 64 C) retention ascorbic acid content ascorbic acid content in
freeze dried powder
(continued on next page)
272 L.M. Raghavi et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 222 (2018) 267e275

Table 1 (continued )

Product Drying conditions Physico- Results References

chemical
Refractance window Other techniques Refractance window Other techniques
property
evaluated

Moisture 9.9 ± 0.6% 12.1 ± 0.5%

content
Aroma Ethyl acetate content Spray dried strawberry
retention decreased showed reduced fruity &
green notes (unlike
freeze dried samples)
Aloe vera Hot water temperature ranging Freeze drying (plate temperature Colour Light creamy colour Spray dried powder Nindo,
from 95
C to 98
C; sample of 21
C; absolute pressure 3.3 kPa) Hue value of 6 (after appeared whiter with 2008
temperatures between 60
C and Spray drying (inlet temperatures stored at 35
C over a hue value of 12;
70
C; belt speed of 0.1 m/s ranging from 170
C to 190
C; period of 7 weeks) Hue value of freeze dried
outlet temperatures between powder was 4
80
C and 90
C)
Antioxidant % inhibition of DPPH % inhibition of DPPH
activity radicals ¼ 29.6 radicals ¼ 27.0 and 54.1
for freeze dried and
spray dried samples,
respectively
Pomegranate juice Effective belt length of 1.95 m; air Spray drying (inner diameter of Colour DE of 5.1 ± 0.5 DE of 2.3 ± 0.5 and Baeghbali
concentrate at 28
C; 30% relative humidity; dryer chamber ¼ 115 cm; height 7.0 ± 0.5 for freeze dried and
(with 35% gum average air velocity of 0.1 m/s; hot 165 cm; two fluid nozzle to samples, respectively; Niakousari,
arabic as carrier water temperature of 91
C; cold atomize by high velocity spray dried samples 2015
in d.b.) water temperature of 21
C; belt compressed air 1 bar pressure; were darker when
speed of 3.9 mm/s; sample feed rate of 0.75 l/h; inlet air reconstituted
thickness of 0.5 mm temperature of 140 ± 1
C; outlet
temperature of 75 ± 1
C)
Freeze drying (pomegranate juice Total Contents were significantly higher than freeze
concentrate was quick frozen anthocyanin and spray dried samples (with the latter
at 80
C; absolute pressure of content exhibiting lowest values)
3 kPa; plate temperature of 20
C; Tapped bulk Lower bulk density Spray dried samples had
condenser temperature of 40
C) density values because of the higher bulk density
flaky nature because of the fine
structure
Potato puree Effective belt length and width of Freeze drying (puree thickness Colour Higher saturation; Flakes from drum dryer Nayak et al.,
1.83 m and 0.60 m, respectively; 2 mm; absolute pressure 3.33 Pa; chromaticity had higher hue 2011
belt speed of 1.40 m/min; hot condenser temperature 64
C; 12.2 ± 0.7; hue angle (296.2 ± 0.3);
water temperature of 95
C; puree dried product was stored 293.6 ± 0.2; DE ¼ 27.04 ± 3.37
thickness of 1 mm at 30
C) DE ¼ 36.49 ± 2.01 Colour of freeze dried
Drum drying (15.24 cm  20.32 cm samples were similar to
pilot scale counter rotating twin RW dried samples
drum dryer;; pressurised steam at (DE ¼ 35.28 ± 0.99)
413 kPa; surface temperature of Total 7331 ± 246 mg Trolox/g 7021 ± 911 and
drum ranging from 135 to 138
C; antioxidant 8151 ± 37 mg Trolox/g
gap between drums 0.3 mm; capacity for drum dried and
rotating speed 1.13 rpm; dried freeze dried samples,
product was stored at 30
C) respectively
Total 4680 ± 120 mg GAE/g 4021 ± 136 and
phenolics 3950 ± 124 mg GAE/g for
drum dried and freeze
dried samples,
respectively
Thawed paprika Hot water temperature 95e97
C; Freeze drying (1 cm thick puree Reflected Good overall colour Freeze dried samples Topuz et al.,
puree 3 min drying process layer spread on glass trays of colour quality; hue angle showed hue angle of 2009, 2011
dimensions 30  40 cm; frozen 36.35 ± 0.23; 38.61 ± 0.74 and
at 70
C; pressure 40 mm Hg; chromaticity chromaticity of
Oven drying (tray surface of 36.90 ± 0.77 41.11 ± 1.08
40  50 cm; parallel air flow at Browing index Oven dried samples showed higher browning
0.76 m/s and temperature of 60
C) of paprika index values
Red/yellow Oven drying method showed higher values
pigment ratio
Kiwifruit slices Slices of 0.8,1.6 and 2.4 mm Oven drying (slice thickness 0.8, Colour Lower DE values for RW™ dried samples Jafari et al.,
thickness; hot water temperature 1.6 and 2.4 mm; temperature 80, Textural Relatively poor textural score for over dried 2016




of 80 , 90 and 100 C; belt 90 and 100
C) evaluation samples
thickness 100-300m Shrinkage Less shrinkage rate for RW™ dried samples
evaluation
Acai juice Hot water temperature 94
C; Hot air drying (sample thickness Moisture 2.19 g/100 g w.b. 1.36 g/100 g w.b. Pavan,
dwell time ranging from 1.15 to between 1 and 2 cm; dried at 65
C content 2010
1.29 min; product temperature for 20 h in a convection cabinet Water activity 0.240 0.119
between 62
and 71
C; storage dryer)
temperature 20
C
 L.M. Raghavi et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 222 (2018) 267e275 273

Table 2
Comparison of energy consumption of RW™ with selected other drying techniques (source: Mujumdar and Menon, 1995; Nindo et al., 2003a).

Dryer type Typical capacity, kg H2O/h per m3 or m2 Typical energy consumption, kJ/kg of H2O Thermal efficiency, %

Tunnel dryer e 5500e6000 42e38

Band dryer e 4000e6000 58e38
Impingement dryer 50 m2 5000e7000 46e32.9
Rotary dryer 30-80 m2 4600e9200 50e25
Fluid bed dryer e 4000e6000 58e38
Flash dryer 5 - 100 m3* 4500e9000 51e26
Spray dryer 1-30 m3 4500 - 11,500 51e20
Drum dryer 6-20 m2 3200e6500 78e35
(for pastes)
RW dryer 6 m2 4743 48e28
(pilot scale dryer)

*Depending on particle size.

contamination can be developed using RW™ drying.

7. Case study on RW™ drying of mango powder

In their work, Caparino et al. (2012) used a RW™ drying system

with temperature of circulating hot water maintained between 95
and 97
C; freeze drying carried out at 20
C under 20 Pa pressure
after an initial freezing stage at 25
C for 24 h; drum drying done
in metal drums with temperatures raised to 152 ± 2
C using steam
and spray drying done at feed rates of 50 ± 2 g/min through a
drying chamber maintained at 190
C (at inlet) and 90
C (at outlet).
Maltodextrin at different concentrations was used as the carrier
agent in spray drying trials and samples prepared with lowest
concentration of 0.25 kg/kg dried mango solids were used for
comparing quality attributes as the addition of maltodextrin
showed no significant variation on colour and appearance during
visual examination. Spray and drum dried mango powders
exhibited lightest and darkest colors, respectively. There was no Fig. 2. Scanning electron micrographs (SEM) of mango powders (180e250 mm) dried
significant colour difference between RW™ and freeze dried sam- using RW™ drying (a and b), freeze drying (c and d), drum drying (e and f) and spray
ples. Following drying, upon reconstitution, it was observed that drying (g and h) (Source: Caparino et al., 2012).
a, c, e and g represent magnification of 100x and b, d, f and h represent magnification
the luminosity of RW™ and freeze dried mango puree closely
of 300x, respectively; 20 kV.
resembled the original puree. Colour of reconstituted spray dried
puree was lighter than the drum dried puree but darker than RW™
and freeze dried puree.
Due to controlled feeding of mango puree using a spreader bar
at the inlet of the RW™ dryer, the microstructure of the powder
was smooth and flaky with uniform thickness (Fig. 2). With lesser
surface area, sides of single particle indicated more flowability and
less susceptibility to oxidation. Freeze-dried mango powder
showed a skeletal-like structure with higher porosity than powders
obtained by other drying techniques. The investigators justified this
to have occurred because of ice formation in the material during
freeze drying that subsequently helps prevent shrinkage and
associated collapse in the structure and shape, resulting in an
insignificant change in volume. In drum dried mango powder, the
microstructure was compact and exhibited irregular particles with
sharp edges. Higher inlet temperatures of around 190 ± 2
C
resulted in spherical or oval shape microstructures.
Internal pores within RW™ dried mango powder particles
imply empty spaces formed during evaporation and contributed to
higher porosity compared to the drum dried powder (Fig. 3). Drum-
dried mango powder showed fine particle surfaces allowing it to be
more compact and rigid. Spray-dried mango powder particles were
very fine and carried a smooth surface. However, this may not
indicative a rigid and compact shape as the dried powder contains
vacuoles forming hollow spherical shapes. Similar inferences were
reported about the quality of RW™ dried powders by Celli et al. Fig. 3. Scanning electron micrographs (SEM) of individual mango powder particles
(2016). In their study on drying haskap berries, they observed (180e250 mm) dried using RW™ drying (a), freeze drying (d), drum drying (c) and
particles with smooth surfaces and similar thickness (Fig. 4). In spray drying (d). (Source: Caparino et al., 2012).
274 L.M. Raghavi et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 222 (2018) 267e275
Fig. 4. Microstructure images of haskap powder produced by RW™ drying. (Source: Celli et al., 2016).
terms of retention of bioactives, RW™ could retain up to 90% an-
thocyanins (as evaluated by HPLC and spectrophotometric assays).
Freeze drying is regarded as the best approach to product high
quality dehydrated products. RW™ dried powders are comparable
in terms of quality and can be obtained through an energy efficient
and low-cost approach with much shorted drying times (Nindo
et al., 2004; Celli et al., 2016).
8. Conclusion
RW™ is a variant of hydro-drying and has the potential to
produce high quality dried slices, purees and juices. RW™ can be
considered as a novel alternative to dry foods and research infers
that active aromatic and pigment compounds responsible for
characteristic sensory and nutritional attributes can be retained
through this technique. To supplement existing research findings,
extensive research may be taken up to understand the underlying
intricate mechanisms of heat and mass transfer; including the
unexplained effects of ‘air gap formations’ that facilitate the drying
process, possibly through a computational fluid dynamics
approach. Till date, most studies have focused on drying of purees
and juices of fruits and vegetables. There is limited understanding
on the effect of RW™ drying on structurally strong foods like tubers
and nuts, particularly in terms of quality changes. The scope of
using this approach as a post-drying or a supplementing drying
approach to heat-sensitive high moisture foods can also be
explored. With shifting consumer trends towards high quality
foods, this approach will surely find its way up to be among the top
most preferred drying techniques in the food industry. If system
capacity and space requirements are worked upon, the technique
can find wider applications in the food industry.
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