Journal of Food Engineering 48 (2001) 269±275

www.elsevier.com/locate/jfoodeng

Water and salt di€usion during cheese ripening: e€ect of the external
and internal resistances to mass transfer
S. Simal a,*, E.S. S
anchez a, J. Bon b, A. Femenia a, C. Rossello
a
a
Department of Chemistry, University of Illes Balears, Ctra. Valldemossa km 7.5, 07071 Palma de Mallorca, Spain
b
Food Technology Department, University Polit ecnica of Valencia, Cno. Vera s/n, 46071 Val
encia, Spain
Received 1 April 2000; accepted 30 September 2000

Abstract
High humidities of drying medium lead to lower drying rates, and both external or internal conditions determine the drying rate.
Thus, a di€usional model has been developed assuming that the external resistance to mass transfer could not be neglected in these
cases and solved by a ®nite di€erence method. The external mass transfer coecient was estimated from the literature. This
mathematical model was used to identify water and salt e€ective di€usivity coecients by using experimental data of ripening
experiments carried out on parallelepipedal Mahon cheeses of 0:14 m  0:14 m  0:09 m edges kept at 12°C and 85% RH. Using
these identi®ed values, 7:8  10ÿ12 m2 =s for moisture di€usion and 5:3  10ÿ10 m2 =s for salt di€usion, average moisture content and
water and salt pro®les during the ripening of 0:20 m  0:20 m  0:10 m cheeses ripened at 12°C and two di€erent relative
humidities, 70% and 80% RH, were accurately simulated. Ó 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Mathematical model; Di€usion; External and internal mass transfers; Cheese ripening

1. Introduction Johansson and Rasmuson (1997), who studied the

Modelling is essentially a way of representing processes
or phenomena to explain the observed data and to pre-
dict behaviour under di€erent conditions (Mulet, 1994).
Moreover, undesirable e€ects could be better controlled
with suitable knowledge and control of the system.
Depending on the application, di€erent phenomena
dominate the processes. Mass transfer processes involve
the transfer of one or more components within a phase
and between phases by molecular di€usion and natural
or forced convection (Saravacos, 1995). During dehy-
dration, water is vaporised from the surface. The transfer
of water from the wet surface to a stream of air is, in
general, evaluated by using a mass transfer coecient.
The moisture ¯ux is proportional to the driving force,
which is the di€erence between the vapour pressure on
the surface and the vapour pressure of water in air sur-
rounding the surface. At the same time that water is
removed from the surface, water di€uses from the inte-
rior of the solid toward the surface (Toledo, 1991). The
latter is generally assumed to be a di€usional process.
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +34-71-17-3239; fax: +34-71-17-3426.
E-mail address: dqussf4@ps.uib.es (S. Simal).
0260-8774/01/$ - see front matter Ó 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 2 6 0 - 8 7 7 4 ( 0 0 ) 0 0 1 6 9 - 2
in¯uence of the drying medium on convective drying,
concluded that high humidities of the drying medium
lead to lower drying rates and neither external nor in-
ternal conditions alone determine the drying rate but
rather a combination of both. According to Derdour,
Desmorieux, and Andrieu (1998), under conditions of
low drying rate, external resistance to mass transfer
becomes important. Thus, the internal moisture gradient
may be very ¯at, leading to low mass ¯ux within the
product.
During salting of a cheese in brine, salt and moisture
gradients develop from the surface to the centre of the
cheese (Luna & Chavez, 1992). Moreover, the ripening
process implies water losses due to the dehydration of
the cheese and salt redistribution to achieve an almost
uniform salt distribution, an important factor in cheese
ripening (Zorrilla & Rubiolo, 1994). Owing to the
principles of molecular transport, a certain time is re-
quired for the achievement of uniform pro®les of salt
concentration throughout the cheese (Gomes, Vieira, &
Malcata, 1998). Thus, prediction of the moisture and
salt concentration pro®les inside a cheese is important,
because the local concentrations are determinants of
microbial and enzyme activity, which in¯uence the ®nal
quality of the product (Luna & Bressan, 1987).
270 S. Simal et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 48 (2001) 269±275

Notation T temperature (K)

W local moisture content (kg water/kg initial d.m.)
Cg Guggenheim constant We equilibrium moisture content (kg water/kg initial d.m.)
C0 constant in the GAB model Wexp experimental local moisture content (kg water/kg initial
d characteristic length (m) d.m.)
DS e€ective NaCl di€usivity coecient (m2 =s) Wm monolayer moisture content (kg water/100 kg d.m.)
DW e€ective water di€usivity coecient (m2 =s) W0 constant in Eq. (8) (kg water/100 kg d.m.)
Dwa di€usion coecient of water vapour (m2 =s) X half-thickness of the solid in the x direction (m)
kc mass transfer coecient (m/s) x x-axis distance (m)
kcp mass transfer coecient (kg water/m2 s) Y half-thickness of the solid in the y direction (m)
Kg constant in the GAB model y y-axis distance (m)
Mw water molecular weight (18 kg/kmol) Z half-thickness of the solid in the z direction (m)
Ps vapour pressure (atm) z z-axis distance (m)
R gas constant (0.082 atm m3 /kmol K) % var percentage of explained variance
S local NaCl content (kg NaCl/kg water) u1 relative humidity of room air
Sexp experimental local NaCl content (kg NaCl/kg water) us equilibrium relative humidity
Sy standard deviation (sample) (kg/kg initial d.m.) DH enthalpy (kJ/kg)
Syx standard deviation (estimation) (kg/kg initial d.m.) qdm density (kg d.m./m3 )
t time (s)

The aim of this study was to propose a mathematical  2 

oW o W o2 W o2 W
model to simulate drying curves and water and salt ˆ DW ‡ ‡ ; …1†
ot ox2 oy 2 oz2
pro®les considering the e€ect of water activity of the
solid on surface mass transfer. The method and its res-  2 
oS o S o2 S o2 S
olution were used to simulate the mass transports during ˆ DS ‡ ‡ ; …2†
the ripening of Mahon cheese. ot ox2 oy 2 oz2
where W and S are the local water and NaCl concen-
trations, respectively, and DW and DS are the water and
1.1. Mathematical model
NaCl e€ective di€usion coecients, which were consid-
ered as constant. It was assumed that no deformation of
The proposed model was developed by assuming that
the solid particle occurs during the process. As an initial
two components di€use during the process. One of
condition it was considered that the initial water and
them, water, moves from inside the solid towards its
NaCl pro®les were the experimental ones at the begin-
surface and from there, to the air stream; meanwhile the
ning of the ripening process (Eqs. (3) and (4)).
second one, NaCl, only moves inside the solid.
The transient-state di€usion of a component is, in W …x; y; z; 0† ˆ Wexp …x; y; z; 0†; …3†
general, expressed by Fick's second law. The cheese was
assumed to be a parallelepiped. For isotropic parallel- S…x; y; z; 0† ˆ Sexp …x; y; z; 0†: …4†
epipeds the di€erential equations for water and NaCl The boundary conditions taken into account for wa-
transfers are (Eqs. (1) and (2)): ter and NaCl transfer are those shown in Eqs. (5)±(10).

Water transfer NaCl transfer

oW …0; y; z; t† oS…0; y; z; t†
ˆ0 ˆ0 …5†
ox ox
oW …x; 0; z; t† oS…x; 0; z; t†
ˆ0 ˆ0 …6†
oy oy

oW …x; y; 0; t† oS…x; y; 0; t†
ˆ0 ˆ0 …7†
oz oz
oW …X ; y; z; t† oS…X ; y; z; t†
ÿDW qdm ˆ kcpx …usx ÿ u1 † ÿDS qdm ˆ0 …8†
ox ox
oW …x; Y ; z; t† oS…x; Y ; z; t†
ÿDW qdm ˆ kcpy …usy ÿ u1 † ÿDS qdm ˆ0 …9†
oy oy

oW …x; y; Z; t† oS…x; y; Z; t†
ÿDW qdm ˆ kcpz …usz ÿ u1 † ÿDS qdm ˆ0 …10†
oz oz
 S. Simal et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 48 (2001) 269±275
In order to estimate the external mass transfer coef-
®cients (kcp ) the case of di€usion into in®nite space from
one side of a round disk was assumed for each solid
surface. The mass transfer coecient for each surface
was estimated as follows (Sherwood, Pigford, & Wilke,
1975).
Ps M w
kcp ˆ kc ; …11†
RT
8 1
kc ˆ Dwa : …12†
p 2d
Di€erential equations (1) and (2) with initial con-
centration pro®les (Eqs. (3) and (4)) and with boundary
conditions of both water and NaCl (Eqs. (5)±(10)) can
be solved numerically by using a ®nite di€erence method
(Schmalko, Ramallo, & Morawicki, 1998; Simal, Ros-
sell
o, & Mulet, 1998).
The e€ective di€usion coecients, DW and DS , can be
estimated by using an optimisation technique based on
the Gauss±Newton method (Valk o & Vajda, 1989) and
the experimental data from experiments carried out at
constant system humidity and temperature.
For parameter identi®cation a mixed criterion can be
used: the sum of relative and absolute square moisture
di€erences in a 1/0.2 ratio (Simal et al., 1998). Through
the numerical calculations, the local and average con-
centrations in the two species, water and NaCl, can be
estimated.
To mathematically evaluate the accuracy of the re-
sults obtained in this study, the percentage of explained
variance was calculated by using the following equation
(Eq. (13)), where Sy is the standard deviation of the
sample and Syx , the correspondent to the estimation
(Sanjuan, Simal, Bon, & Mulet, 1999).
" #
2
Syx
% var ˆ 1 ÿ 2 100: …13†
Sy
2. Materials and methods
Industrial Mahon cheeses manufactured at the island
of Menorca (Spain) under the methodology suggested
by the Appellation of Origin of Mahon cheese were used
in all experiments. Mahon cheeses were supplied by a
local factory (Hort de Sant Patrici) and salted in our
laboratory.
The brining process was performed at 12°C in 28%
(w/v) sodium chloride with 1.5% (w/v) calcium chloride
solution. The product±solution ratio was 1:5 (w/v). Af-
ter brining, the cheese samples were rinsed with water to
remove adhered brine and super®cially dried on ®lter
paper.
Initial moisture and NaCl pro®les were evaluated by
cutting three samples of salted cheese into quarters, each
271
quarter into four slices of the same thickness parallel to
the inner face, each slice into another four slices of the
same thickness parallel to the inner face and ®nally,
these slices into parallelepipeds. Each part was homo-
genised with the correspondent three parts located at the
same position in the cheese, from the other three quar-
ters, and analysed in duplicate for average moisture
(FIL-IDF 4:1958) and NaCl (FIL 88:1979) contents
according to the standard methods of the International
Dairy Federation.
The ripening process was carried out under controlled
conditions of air moisture and temperature. Two series
of ripening experiments were carried out. One series
used parallelepipedal cheeses of approximately 0:14 m 
0:14 m  0:09 m with round edges and 1.3 kg mass
which were ripened at 12:0  0:5°C and 85  1% rela-
tive humidity (RH) for 70 d. The initial moisture and
NaCl contents of these samples were 75:6  2:4 kg
water/100 kg d.m. and 2:6  0:2 kg NaCl/100 kg d.m.,
respectively.
The second series of ripening experiments was carried
out using parallelepipedal cheeses of approximately
0:20 m  0:20 m  0:10 m with round edges and ca. 2.8
kg mass which were ripened at 12:0  0:5°C and two
di€erent relative humidities, 70  1% and 80  1% for
115 d. These samples presented initial moisture and
NaCl contents of 75:7  3:1 kg water/100 kg d.m. and
3:9  0:2 kg NaCl/100 kg d.m., respectively.
At di€erent times of ripening, three cheese samples
were measured in thickness and cut into quarters. Each
quarter was cut into four slices of the same thickness
parallel to the inner face, and slices analysed in duplicate
for average moisture (FIL-IDF 4:1958) and NaCl (FIL
88:1979) contents according to the standard methods of
the International Dairy Federation.
Moreover, the water activity of cheese samples with
di€erent moisture contents (from 75 to 3 kg water/100
kg d.m.) was measured by means of a Novasina TH/
RDT 200 electric hygrometer.
3. Results and discussion
The average moisture variation during ripening time,
obtained in experiments of set 1, carried out at 12°C on
cheeses of 0:14 m  0:14 m  0:09 m at 85% RH, has
been represented in Fig. 1. The drying curve proceeded
approximately from 0.75 to 0.55 kg water/kg d.m.
Figs. 2 and 3 show experimental moisture and NaCl
distribution inside these cheeses during ripening at 85%
RH. Local water and NaCl concentration have been
represented vs the distance from the centre to the surface
of the cheese on the x-axis for di€erent ripening times.
Positions 1, 2 and 3 exhibited similar moisture concen-
tration; meanwhile, at the last position (the outermost
position), the predicted local moisture was clearly lower
272 S. Simal et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 48 (2001) 269±275
Fig. 1. Experimental and calculated mean moisture content during
cheese ripening. Ripening experiment carried out on 0:14 m 
0:14 m  0:09 m cheeses at 12°C and 85% RH.
Fig. 2. Experimental and calculated local moisture content vs distance
from the cheese center during ripening. Ripening experiment carried
out on 0:14 m  0:14 m  0:09 m cheeses at 12°C and 85% RH.
Fig. 3. Experimental and calculated local salt content vs distance from
the cheese centre during ripening. Ripening experiment carried out on
0:14 m  0:14 m  0:09 m cheeses at 12°C and 85% RH.
(Fig. 2). The NaCl concentration exhibited a marked
variation from the centre to the surface of the cheese at
the beginning of the ripening time. This NaCl pro®le
became almost ¯at after 30 d of ripening.
Fig. 4. Experimental and estimated moisture contents vs water activity.
Results obtained at 10°C, 14°C and 18°C.
The cheese samples shrank less than 10% of the initial
volume after the studied ripening period. Therefore, the
di€usional model was solved assuming negligible vol-
ume changes.
Equilibrium moisture content values were calculated
with the ripening air conditions and the moisture iso-
therm obtained by ®tting water activity data to the GAB
model (Fig. 4), recommended by numerous authors
(Sanchez, San Juan, Simal, & Rossell o, 1997; Sanni,
Kolawole, Akingbala, & Kuye, 1999). The six GAB
parameters C0 ; DH1 ; K0 ; DH2 ; W0 and DH were esti-
mated from water activity, which ranged from 0.6 to 1,
and moisture data ranging from 0.03 to 0.51 kg water/kg
d.m. at di€erent temperatures from 10°C to 18°C, using
SOLVER, a tool included in EXCELe (Microsoft Excel
97, 1997) that uses an optimisation method (GRG) to
identify unknown variables by minimising a criterion.
The ®gures obtained for these parameters are shown in
Table 1. The percentage of explained variance obtained
from the comparison of experimental water activity data
and those estimated through the proposed GAB equa-
tion was 99.2%.
A ®rst attempt at modelling drying curves and the
moisture pro®le was made. In this case, it was assumed
that the solid surface was in equilibrium with the sur-
rounding air from the beginning of the ripening process,
i.e., Eqs. (8)±(10) for water transport became as follows
(Sander, Tomas, & Skansi, 1998) (Eqs. (14)±(16)):
W …X ; y; z; t† ˆ We ; …14†
W …x; Y ; z; t† ˆ We ; …15†
W …x; y; Z; t† ˆ We : …16†
Thus, this di€usional model was used to identify the
moisture di€usion coecient by using experimental data
of the ripening experiment of set 1, carried out on
cheeses of 0:14 m  0:14 m  0:09 m edges kept at 12°C
and 85% RH.
 S. Simal et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 48 (2001) 269±275
Table 1
Figures obtained for the six GAB parameters and percentage of explained variance obtained through the comparison of experimental and estimated
water activity data
GAB model equations
 
DH1
Cg ˆ C0 exp
R…T ‡ 273†
 
DH2
Kg ˆ K0 exp
R…T ‡ 273†
 
DH
Wm ˆ W0 exp
R…T ‡ 273†
Wm Cg Kg aw
W ˆ
…1 ÿ Kg aw †…1 ‡ …Cg ÿ 1†Kg aw †
The identi®ed DW ®gure was 2:50  10ÿ11 m2 =s. By
using this di€usion coecient, the drying curve and
moisture pro®le during ripening were simulated. As can
be observed in Fig. 1, simulation of average moisture
content during ripening was accurate, the percentage of
explained variance being 99.2%. Nevertheless, by using
this model, simulation of the moisture pro®le was not
adequate. As an example, estimated moisture pro®le at
23 d of ripening has been represented vs the distance
from the centre to the surface of the cheese together with
the experimental data in Fig. 2. As can be seen in this
®gure, the estimated moisture pro®le obtained by using
this model was not adequate. From these results, it was
concluded that some hypotheses admitted when the
model was developed could not be adequate.
Derdour et al. (1998) observed that, under dehydra-
tion conditions of low mass ¯ux, the internal moisture
gradient was very ¯at. The moisture pro®les within the
solid, observed by these authors under this situation,
were very similar in shape to those shown in Figs. 2 and
6, measured in Mahon cheeses during ripening. There-
fore, a second di€usional model was developed assum-
ing that the external resistance to mass transfer could
not be neglected in this case when modelling.
Now, the boundary conditions assumed to solve the
di€erential equations representative of the water trans-
port are those of Eqs. (8)±(10) (Hawlader, Ho, & Qing,
1999; Pordage & Langrish, 1999). The problem of using
these boundary conditions consists in the adequate es-
timation of the mass transfer coecient (Salin, 1996),
and in some cases, both di€usion coecient and external
mass transfer coecient parameters are simultaneously
estimated (Cai & Avramidis, 1997). In this study, air¯ow
rate in the ripening chambers was low enough to allow
the estimation of this parameter through Eqs. (11) and
(12), where it is assumed that the ¯uid is in®nite in extent
and stagnant, and mass transfer occurs only by molec-
ular di€usion.
273
GAB parameters
C0 ˆ 0:0279
DH1 ˆ 8889:2 kJ/kg
K0 ˆ 1:483
DH2 ˆ ÿ1107:1 kJ/kg
W0 ˆ 2:62 kg/100 kg d.m.
DH ˆ 1462:2 kJ/kg
Percentage of explained variance (% var) ˆ 99.2%
The proposed model, solved by a ®nite di€erence
method, and the experimental data of the ripening ex-
periment carried out at 12°C and 85% RH on Mahon
cheeses of 0:14 m  0:14 m  0:09 m edges, were used
to identify the moisture and NaCl di€usion coecients
at this temperature. These ®gures were 7:8  10ÿ12 m2 =s
for moisture di€usion and 5:3  10ÿ10 m2 =s for NaCl
di€usion. According to this second proposed model, the
moisture di€usion ®gure was considerably lower than
the value identi®ed by assuming that the solid surface
was at equilibrium with the surrounding air (2:5 
10ÿ11 m2 =s).
Similar NaCl di€usion ®gures were proposed in the
literature for NaCl movement during the ripening of
di€erent cheeses. Luna and Bressan (1987) proposed
an NaCl di€usion ®gure during the brining and ripening
of 3:6  10ÿ10 m2 =s for Cuartirolo Argentino cheese.
Zorrilla and Rubiolo (1994) proposed a ®gure of
4:14  10ÿ10 m2 =s for NaCl di€usion during the ripening
of Fynbo cheese. Literature on water di€usion in cheese
during ripening is scarce.
As can be observed in Fig. 1, similar results were
obtained in this case with respect to the simulation of
the average moisture content during ripening time (%
var was 99.3%). However, simulation of the moisture
and NaCl pro®les was quite satisfactory for the whole
ripening period studied (Figs. 2 and 3). The percentages
of explained variance obtained by the comparison of
experimental and calculated local moisture and NaCl
contents at di€erent ripening times were 98.9% and
99.5%, respectively. These results pointed out the im-
portance of taking into account the external resistance
to water transfer when modelling this type of process.
3.1. Validation of the proposed model
In order to evaluate the usefulness of the proposed
model in simulating the drying curves and moisture and
274 S. Simal et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 48 (2001) 269±275
NaCl pro®les of cheeses during ripening, two additional
experiments were simulated (experiments of set 2). In
this case, cheeses of di€erent size to those used in the
parameter estimation (0:20 m  0:20 m  0:10 m) were
ripened at 12°C under di€erent conditions of relative
humidity (70% and 80% RH).
The average moisture variation during ripening time
obtained in these experiments has been represented in
Fig. 5. As can be observed in this ®gure, water losses
observed in cheeses ripened at 70% and 80% RH were
di€erent. The drying rate was lower when cheeses were
ripened at 80% RH.
Negligible di€erences were found between NaCl
pro®les measured on samples ripened at 70% and 80%
RH. As an example, the moisture and NaCl pro®les
measured in samples kept at 12°C and 70% RH are
shown in Figs. 6 and 7. These pro®les were similar
in shape to those observed in cheeses samples of
0:14 m  0:14 m  0:09 m edges ripened at 85% RH.
Nevertheless, due to the smaller brining time used to
obtain these later samples, the average NaCl content
Fig. 5. Experimental and calculated moisture content during cheese
ripening. Ripening experiments carried out on 0:20 m  0:20 m 
0:10 m cheeses at 12°C and 70% and 80% RH.
Fig. 6. Experimental and calculated local moisture content vs distance
from the cheese centre during ripening. Ripening experiment carried
out on 0:20 m  0:20 m  0:10 m cheeses at 12°C and 70% RH.
Fig. 7. Experimental and calculated local salt content vs distance from
the cheese centre during ripening. Ripening experiment carried out on
0:20 m  0:20 m  0:10 m cheeses at 12°C and 70% RH.
(2.6 kg NaCl/100 kg d.m.) was lower than in
0:20 m  0:20 m  0:10 m samples ripened at 70% and
80% RH (3.9 kg NaCl/100 kg d.m.).
Using the previously identi®ed values of DW and DS ,
the average moisture variation during ripening and
water and NaCl pro®les were simulated. As can be seen
in Fig. 5, the proposed model could be used to accu-
rately simulate the drying curves of both experiments, at
70% and 80% RH (% var were 99.5% and 99.6%, re-
spectively).
Not only was the simulation of the drying curves
accurate, but the prediction of moisture and NaCl
pro®les was so as well. As an example, Figs. 6 and 7
show the representation of experimental and calculated
moisture (Fig. 6) and NaCl (Fig. 7) distribution inside
the cheeses during ripening, for the experiment carried
out at 12°C at 70% RH with 0:20 m  0:20 m  0:10 m
samples. As can be seen in these ®gures, the proposed
model, taking into account both the external and the
internal resistances to mass transfer, allowed an accurate
simulation of these pro®les.
From these results, it could be concluded that the
accurate simulation of drying curves and water and
NaCl pro®les inside cheese samples of di€erent sizes and
ripened under di€erent conditions of relative humidity is
possible. Using a di€usional model solved by a ®nite
di€erence method and assuming that external mass
resistance is not negligible, this simulation could be
performed.
In conclusion, the importance of taking into account
simultaneously both external and internal resistances
could be of major importance in some cases when
modelling mass transfers. This could be the case of some
dairy, meat and ®sh products like cheese, ham, etc.,
whose ripening processes usually take place under con-
ditions of refrigeration temperatures, low drying air
rates and exhibiting important water losses. For these
types of foods not only is the ®nal water amount quite
important but also its distribution inside the food,
 S. Simal et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 48 (2001) 269±275
together with distribution of the di€erent food additives
or components.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the ®nancial
support of CICYT (ALI96-1180-CO04).
References
Cai, L., & Avramidis, S. (1997). A study on the separation of di€usion
and surface emission coecients in wood. Drying Technology, 15,
1457±1473.
Derdour, I., Desmorieux, H., & Andrieu, J. (1998). Determination and
interpretation of the critical moisture content (C.M.C.) and the
internal moisture content pro®le during the constant drying rate
period. Drying Technology, 16, 813±824.
Gomes, A. M. P., Vieira, M. M., & Malcata, F. X. (1998). Survival of
probiotic microbial strains in a cheese matrix during ripening:
Simulation of rates of salt di€usion and microorganism survival.
Journal of Food Engineering, 36, 281±301.
Hawlader, M. N. A., Ho, J. C., & Qing, Z. (1999). A mathematical
model for drying of shrinking materials. Drying Technology, 17,
27±47.
Johansson, A., & Rasmuson, A. (1997). The in¯uence of the drying
medium on high temperature convective drying of single wood
chips. Drying Technology, 15, 1801±1813.
Luna, J. A., & Bressan, J. A. (1987). Mass transfer during ripening of
Cuartiolo Argentino cheese. Journal of Food Science, 52(2), 308±
311.
Luna, J. A., & Chavez, M. S. (1992). Mathematical model for water
di€usion during brining of hard and semi-hard cheese. Journal of
Food Science, 57(1), 55±58.
Microsoft Excel 97e (1997). Spreadsheet user's manual. New York:
Microsoft Corporation.
275
Mulet, A. (1994). Drying modelling and water di€usivity in carrots and
potatoes. In P. Fito, A. Mulet, & B. McKenna (Eds.), Water in
foods. London: Elsevier.
Pordage, L. J., & Langrish, T. A. G. (1999). Simulation of the e€ect of
air velocity in the drying of hardwood timber. Drying Technology,
17, 237±255.
Salin, J.-G. (1996). Mass transfer from wooden surfaces and internal
moisture non-equilibrium. Drying Technology, 14, 2213±2224.
S
anchez, E., San Juan, N., Simal, S., & Rossell o, C. (1997).
Calorimetric techniques applied to the determination of isosteric
heat of desorption for potato. Journal Science of Food and
Agriculture, 74, 57±63.
Sander, A., Tomas, S., & Skansi, D. (1998). The in¯uence of air
temperature on e€ective di€usion coecient of moisture in the
falling rate period. Drying Technology, 16(7), 1487±1499.
Sanjuan, N., Simal, S., Bon, J., & Mulet, A. (1999). Modelling of
broccoli stems rehydration process. Journal of Food Engineering,
42, 27±31.
Sanni, L. O., Kolawole, A. G., Akingbala, J. O., & Kuye, A. (1999).
E€ect of drying methods on moisture sorption isotherms of fufu at
three temperatures. Drying Technology, 17, 285±297.
Saravacos, G.D. (1995). Mass transfer properties of foods. In M.A.
Rao, & S.S.H. Rizvi (Eds.), Engineering properties of foods. New
York: Marcel Dekker.
Schmalko, M. E., Ramallo, L. A., & Morawicki, R. O. (1998). An
application of simultaneous heat and mass transfer in a cylinder
using the ®nite-di€erence method. Drying Technology, 16, 283±296.
Sherwood, T. K., Pigford, R. L., & Wilke, C. R. (1975). Mass transfer.
New York: McGraw-Hill.
Simal, S., Rossello, C., & Mulet, A. (1998). Modelling of air drying in
regular shaped bodies. Trends in Chemical Engineering, 4, 171±180.
Toledo, R. T. (1991). Fundamentals of food process engineering.
London: Chapman and Hall.
Valko, P., & Vajda, S. (1989). Advanced scienti®c computing in BASIC
with applications in chemistry, biology and pharmacology. Amster-
dam: Elsevier.
Zorrilla, S. E., & Rubiolo, A. C. (1994). Fynbo cheese NaCl and KCl
changes during ripening. Journal of Food Science, 59(5), 972±975.