See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/358147600

Evacuated tube solar and sun drying of beetroot slices: Comparative

assessment of thermal performance, drying kinetics, and quality analysis

Article  in  Solar Energy · February 2022

DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2022.01.029

CITATIONS READS

15 222

3 authors:

Santanu Malakar Masud Alam

National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology
25 PUBLICATIONS   182 CITATIONS    1 PUBLICATION   13 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Vinkel Kumar Arora

National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management
53 PUBLICATIONS   287 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

lab scale dryer View project

Solar dryer View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Masud Alam on 01 March 2022.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 Solar Energy 233 (2022) 246–258

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Solar Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/solener

Evacuated tube solar and sun drying of beetroot slices: Comparative

assessment of thermal performance, drying kinetics, and quality analysis
Santanu Malakar, Masud Alam, Vinkel Kumar Arora *
Department of Food Engineering, National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management, Haryana, India

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: In this research work, the thermal performance of an evacuated tube solar dryer (ETSD) was investigated at no-
Evacuated tube solar dryer load and with load of beetroot slices for drying. The experiments were performed in both ETSD and sun drying to
Bioactive compound compare drying kinetics, mass transfer phenomena, colour changes, and retention of bioactive compounds of
Solar drying
beetroot slices. At no-load condition, maximum ambient and drying chamber temperature achieved were
Thermal performance
Beetroot quality attributes
41.50 ◦ C and 75 ◦ C respectively. The initial moisture content was found to be 84.05% which reduced to 9.25%
and 13.56% in ETSD and sun-drying, respectively. Average drying rate was found to be 8.5 g water/g dry solid.
hr and 7.94 g water/g dry solid. hr. in ETSD and sun-drying respectively. Weibull and Midilli kucuk models
precisely described the drying kinetics of beetroot slices in ETSD and sun-drying, respectively. The effective
moisture diffusivity range, activation energy, and maximum mass transfer coefficient of beetroot slices dried in
ETSD were 1.01 × 10-7 to 2.45 × 10-7 m2/s, 27.60 kJ/mole, and 3.23 × 10-4 m/s respectively while for sun
drying these parameters are 1.19 × 10-7 to 2.24 × 10-7 m2/s, 57.15 kJ/mole, and 3.18 × 10-4 m/s. Betalain
pigment retention was higher by 63.98% in ETSD drying than sun drying. The colour changes were found to be
higher in sun drying. The average phenolic content and antioxidant capacity were higher by 31.07% and 21.87%
in ETSD as compared to sun drying. Therefore, the ETSD can effectively dry other food commodities with
reduced drying time and significant retention of quality attributes.

Sulaiman, 2018; Seremet et al., 2020). Drying is a unit operation that

reduces the desirable moisture for safe storage and makes powder from
1. Introduction
commodity by heat utilization (Khaing Hnin et al., 2019). The optimum
drying condition plays a crucial role in retaining quality attributes and
Red beetroot (Beta vulgaris. L) is a popular health-promoting root
bioactive compounds during drying (Chhikara et al., 2019). The betalain
vegetable containing a higher amount of bioactive components con­
content and total phenolic content decrease with the increase of drying
sisting of betacyanin, betaxanthin, betalains, polyphenols, flavonoids,
temperature from 40 to 60 ◦ C in both conductive hydro drying and tray
ascorbic acid, and carotenoids, etc. (Seremet et al., 2020). It can be used
drying of beetroot slices (Preethi et al., 2020). The higher rehydration
in various medicinal applications due to various pigments and bioactive
and higher antioxidant activity are reported in vacuum-microwave
components present. It contribute to the development of functional food
treated of beetroot slices dried in freeze-drying compared to hot air
products in the industry (Preethi et al., 2020). Beetroot is an important
drying at 60 ◦ C (Figiel, 2010).
source of betalain pigment used as natural colourants, which are more
In contrast, the total phenolic content and antioxidant capacity
preferable by the consumer than a synthetic colourant (Aykın-Dinçer
increased with the drying temperature of beetroot slices dried at 50-
et al., 2021). Also, it used as a powder to enrich the nutritional value and
100℃ in a hot air drying system (Liu et al., 2020). The retention of
impart colour to food products such as ice cream, jam, jelly, yogurt, etc.
bioactive compounds in microwave 315 W with convective drying at
(Dhiman et al., 2021). Beetroot powder is produced by dehydration with
60℃ as compared to solely convective drying at 50, 60, and 70 ◦ C of
different thermal and non-thermal treatment approaches, i.e., spray,
beetroot slices (Nistor et al., 2017). Beetroot was dried in a hybrid dryer
tray, foam-mat, freeze-drying, etc. (Bazaria and Kumar, 2018; Ng and

Abbreviations: DR, Drying rate (kg/h); DF, Dilution factor; ETSC, Evacuated tube solar collector; ETSD, Evacuated tube solar dryer; DPPH, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-
hydrazyl-hydrate; FPC, Flat plate collector; MC, Moisture content; MR, Moisture ratio; RSME, Root mean square error; MW, Molecular weight (g/mol); TPC, Total
phenolic content (mg GAE/g dry.
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: vinkelarora17@gmail.com (V.K. Arora).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2022.01.029
Received 12 October 2021; Received in revised form 31 December 2021; Accepted 12 January 2022
0038-092X/© 2022 International Solar Energy Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
S. Malakar et al. Solar Energy 233 (2022) 246–258

Nomenclature t Drying time (h)

Nt Number of evacuated tubes
Adry Drying chamber area (m2) Vp Volume of commodity under drying (m3)
Ac Collector area (m2) T Temperature (◦ C)
aw Water activity Tn Number of trays
Dm Diameter of the manifold pipe (mm) R Universal gas constant (J/mol/K)
D Diameter of the ETSC pipe (mm) ΔE Total colour change
Dt Drying time interval (h) hm Convective mass transfer coefficient (m/s)
Deff Effective moisture diffusivity (m2/s) Bi Biot number
Ea Activation energy (kJ/mol) Di Dincer number
H Thickness of beetroot slice (mm) v Air velocity (m/s)
Ig Solar intensity (W/m2) Utotal Total uncertainty
L Length of the ETSC pipe (mm) URn Relative uncertainty of the nth factor
mi Initial moisture content % (wb) R2 Coefficient of determination
mf Final moisture content % (wb) χ2 Chi-square
Me Equilibrium moisture content (t) e Molar extinction coefficients
Mo Moisture content at time t (%) β Tilt angle of solar collector (o)
Mt Moisture content at specific time interval (%) φ Latitude
n Number of days δ Declination angle (o)

followed by pretreatment with microwave and ohmic heating. It was
reported that the higher polyphenols content and antioxidant capacity
were retained at higher microwave power treated samples (Seremet
et al., 2020). Beetroot’s bioactive pigment and antioxidant capacity
were analyzed by roasting, boiling, microwaving, and vacuum treat­
ment. It was found that the betalain concentrations were maximum in
the case of 20% vacuum with microwave treatment of 900 W and 1800
W (Ravichandran et al., 2013). The mass transfer increases, followed by
decreased bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity (32–81%) of
beetroot slices dried in ultrasound-assisted freeze-drying (Vallespir
et al., 2017). The ultrasound and microwave pretreated beetroot had
shown better colour and better betalain pigment retention than solely
pre-treated with the microwave (Szadzińska et al., 2020). Higher tem­
perature drying resulted in a higher drying rate but subsequently losses
of the bioactive compound and higher energy consumption during the
drying process (Khaing Hnin et al., 2019). Nowadays, researchers’ pri­
mary focus is to reduce energy consumption during the drying of food
commodities by applying renewable energy.
The conventional sun drying was replaced with new drying tech­
nology by a solar dryer for cost-effective and efficient drying (Demiray
and Tulek, 2014). A novel compact solar dryer integrated with baffles
was developed for drying apple slices and found to be higher system
performance in terms of a specific consumption rate of 0.69 kg/kWh at a
higher flow rate of 0.014 kg/s (Afshari et al., 2021). Flat plate solar
collectors are mainly used to develop solar dryers suitable for low-
temperature drying applications (Ibrahim et al., 2011). Photovoltaic-
thermal (PVT) collectors-based hybrid dryer integrated with fin was
developed to enhance the heat transfer. It improved the system’s drying
performance during mint leaves drying (Çiftçi et al., 2021). To improve
the overall performance of the solar dryer, square-spiral fins were
attached to the absorber plate of the solar collector. Experiments were
performed for drying medicinal plants. The results found that the inte­
grated fins system was more efficient, and the efficiency was increased
with mass flow rate from 0.013 to 0.007 kg/s (Khanlari et al., 2021). In
recent years, researchers have shown an increased interest in evacuated
tubes solar collectors (ETSC) based solar dryers for drying food mate­
rials. Limited studies have been reported by researchers on evacuated
tube solar collectors for drying applications, i.e., Garlic clove (Malakar
and Arora, 2021a; Shringi et al., 2014), apple slices (Iranmanesh et al.,
2020), mango slices (Wang et al., 2018), seedless grapes (Ubale et al.,
2017), Muscat grapes (Umayal et al., 2014), carrots, apples, and apricots
(Lamnatou et al., 2012). ETSC has higher efficiency and is used for
drying applications. Also, the performance of an evacuated tube-based
solar dryer depends on geographical locations and environmental
conditions.
No previous study reported solar drying of beetroot based on an
evacuated tube solar collector. Therefore, the study was carried out in
two stages, firstly to investigate the thermal performance of an evacu­
ated tube solar dryer to select beetroot for drying. Second, to evaluate
the drying kinetics, mass transfer phenomena, and quality attributes
changes such as total phenolic content, antioxidant activity, colour,
betalain content of beetroot slices during drying and compared with sun
drying.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Sample collection and preparation
Fresh beetroot was procured from the local market of Sonipat, India,
and stored in the refrigerator at 4 ◦ C for further experiments. Beetroot
was washed with water and peeled using steel knives. In our experiment,
the beetroots were sliced in 1–3 mm by a vegetable slicer (manual) but
the 2 mm thickness slices only were considered for the investigation. In
an evacuated tube solar dryer, the slice beetroots were spread in each
tray of dimension 1.3x0.5 m. Also, the sliced beetroot was placed in
perforated trays and kept in open sun drying for comparison with that of
ETSD. The initial moisture content of beetroot is 84.30% (wb) measured
as per (AOAC, 1990) methods 934.01.
2.2. Experimental setup
The evacuated tube solar dryer (ETSD) was used for drying beetroot,
which was developed by (Malakar et al.,2021) at NIFTEM, as shown in
Fig. 1. The ETSD consists of a drying chamber containing five trays, 15
evacuated tubes with reflector, and a blower assembly. The total volume
of the fabricated drying chamber is 0.468 m3 made of stainless steel and
insulated with glass wool to reduce heat loss.
The specifications of the experimental setup of ETSD are given in
Table 1. The schematic representation of the ETSD is depicted in Fig. 2.
The beetroot slices are spread on the tray made of a perforated
aluminium sheet to place the sample for experiments. Also, beetroot
slices are placed in perforated trays and kept open for sun drying. The
solar intensity, temperature, and humidity were recorded every hour in
both the drying methods. Also, moisture loss, drying rate, colour
changes, and quality attributes of beetroot slices were determined in
both the ETSD and sun drying methods.

247
S. Malakar et al. Solar Energy 233 (2022) 246–258

Fig. 1. Experimental setup of ETSD.

drying rate, betalain content, antioxidant property, and total phenolic

Table 1
content. The uncertainty analysis of the instruments was determined by
Specifications of ETSD.
eq. (1). (Tiwari and Tiwari, 2016)
Parameters Descriptions/Specifications
[( ]1/2
ETSC with heat pipe Utotal = UR1 )2 +(UR2 )2 + (UR3 )2 + ⋯⋯⋯..(URn )2 (1)
Number of ETSC (Nt ) 15
Where Utotal and URn are the total uncertainty and the relative un­
Outer and inner diameter of ETC pipe 58 mm and 47 mm
ETSC tube length (L) 1.8 m certainty of the nth factor, respectively. Uncertainty of the instruments
Diameter of evaporator section of heat pipe (D) 0.8 cm used in the experiments is given in Table 2.
Drying chamber
Total area (Adry ) 4 m2
Total volume (V p ) 0.468 m3 2.4. Moisture content
Each tray dimension 1.3 × 0.5 m
Number of trays (Tn ) 5 Moisture content (MC) is the amount of water present in any com­
ETSC area (Ac ) 1.66 m2 modity at a specific period. It was measured based on water removed
Tilt angle (β) 45◦ during drying at a particular period and expressed on a wet basis, and
Average solar intensity (Ig ) (May 2021) 795 W/m2 was calculated as given in eq. (2) (Demiray and Tulek, 2014).
mi − mf
MC = (2)
2.3. Thermal performance of ETSD with and without load conditions mf

The experiments were performed in the geographical location of
NIFTEM, Sonipat, Haryana, India with a Latitude: 28.86◦ N, Longi­
tude:77.12◦ E. ETSD is placed in the direction of the south and inclined
at an angle of 45◦ to the horizontal to achieved maximum solar radiation
during the whole day. The thermal performance with and without load
condition of ETSD was carried out at airflow velocity of 2 m/s (air flow
rate 0.0048 kg/s), temperature ranges 32–42 ◦ C, humidity 42–60%,
solar radiation 320–1035 W/m2. The thermal performance of ETSD was
evaluated based on the temperature achieved inside the drying chamber.
Although, the environmental factors, i.e., relative humidity, solar radi­
ation intensity, and ambient temperature of the experimental condi­
tions, were recorded. All the data were recorded from 9:30 AM and 5:30
PM with one hour of interval. The temperature, relative humidity, solar
radiation intensity was measured using a temperature humidity data
logger (EliTech, RC-4, United Kingdom) and pyranometer (Delta Ohm,
LP PYRA 02, Remscheid, Germany), respectively. The experiments were
conducted at both evacuated solar dryer and sun drying methods for
drying beetroot slices at load conditions. The performance of ETSD and
sun drying was analyzed by evaluating different drying kinetics, and
quality attributes changes during the drying process of beetroot slices.
The comparison of the performance between sun drying and ETSD was
analyzed based on total colour changes, water activity, moisture ratio,
Where MC is the moisture content, mi and mf are the initial and final
weight of beetroot slices during drying.
2.5. Drying rate
The drying rate (DR) is the moisture removed during the drying at a
unit time interval. It is estimated by the difference in moisture content of
the dried material divided by drying time duration. The drying rates of
beetroot samples were estimated by using eq. (3). (Tamarit-Pino et al.,
2020)
Mt − Mt+dt
DR = (3)
dt
Where, Mt and Mt+dt are indicate the moisture content of the sample
at time t and specific time t + dt respectively, dt is the drying time
interval.
2.6. Moisture ratio and mathematical modeling
The moisture ratio (MR) of beetroot samples during sun and ETSD
drying after each hour was measured using the following eq. (4)
(Demiray and Tulek, 2014).

248
S. Malakar et al. Solar Energy 233 (2022) 246–258

Fig. 2. Schematic representation of the ETSD.

Table 2
Uncertainty of the different instruments.
Parameters Instruments Maker Model Range Unit Accuracy

Temperature Thermocouples Micron K-Type − 50˚C to 650˚C ˚C ±0.32

Relative humidity Digital data logger Elitech RC-4 0 to 100 % ±0.17
Air flow velocity Digital Anemometer Benetech GM816 1 to 30 m/s ±0.12
Moisture content Moisture Analyzer Citizen MB50C 0 to 100 % ±2.5
Solar intensity Pyranometer Delta Ohm, Germany LP PYRA 02 0 to 2500 W/m2 ±5.24
Weight measurement Digital Balance Equal digital EQRL25 0 to 2000 gm ±0.56

M − Me and RMSE values. These parameters can be described by eqs. (5), (6),
MR = (4)
M0 − Me and (7). (Inyang et al., 2018)
Where, M, Mo , Me indicate the sample’s moisture content at any time, ∑N 2
i=1 (M.Rpre,i − M.Rexp,i )
initial moisture content, and equilibrium moisture content, respectively. R2 = 1 − ∑n 2
(5)
∑N M.Rpre,i
The different semi-empirical thin layer drying models predict the i=1 ( − M.Rpre,i )
k=1
N
drying kinetics of beetroot dried in ETSD and sun drying. The moisture ∑N
ratio of beetroot was estimated every one-hour interval during drying in − M.Rpre,i )2
i=1 (M.Rexp,i
χ2 = (6)
both drying methods and is used to identification of suitable model to N− n
predict the drying kinetics. The thin layer models used for fitting the [ ]1/2
moisture ratio values are presented in Table 3. The calculated moisture 1 ∑N
RMSE = (M.Rpre,i − M.Rexp,i )2 (7)
ratio values were fitted with different selected models using OriginPro N i=1

v21 software to recognize the best suitable model and drying kinetics.
The best model selection was carried out based on the highest value Where MRexp, i is the experimental MR of the ith data, MRpre, i is the
coefficient of determination (R2), the lowest value of Chi-square (χ2), predicted MR of the ith data, n and N are drying constant, and the
number of experiments respectively.

Table 3
Different kinetics models and their equations. 2.7. Mass transfer parameters
Model Name Model equation References

Page MR = exp( − ktn ) (Page, 1949) 2.7.1. Effective moisture diffusivity (Deff) and activation energy (Ea)
Modified Page MR = exp(− kt)n (Yaldiz et al., 2001) Effective moisture diffusivity plays a crucial role in understanding
Henderson and MR = aexp( − kt) (Henderson and Pabis, the mass transfer mechanism or moisture removal during the drying
Pabis 1991) process. It is mainly presumed that the moisture transfer takes place by
Weibull n
MR = a − bexp( − kt ) (Corzo et al., 2008) molecular diffusion, and it is determined by Fick’s second law, which is
Two-term MR = aexp( − kt) + (Henderson, 1974) used in most food products during the thin-layer drying process. Acti­
bexp(− k0 t) vation energy is the energy required to transfer the moisture from food
Midilli and Kucuk MR = aexp( − ktn ) + bt (Midilli et al., 2007) material to the surroundings. It is calculated by correlating the diffusion
Logarithmic MR = aexp(− ktn ) + C (Togrul and Pehlivan, coefficient and temperature. The beetroot slices are considered a slab
2002)
Newton/lewis MR = exp( − kt) (Lewis, 1921)
geometry and negligible shrinkage during the drying for determination
of effective moisture diffusivity and activation energy are determined by

249
S. Malakar et al. Solar Energy 233 (2022) 246–258

eqs. (8)-(10) (Vijayan et al., 2020). of 50% ethanol and shaking in an electronic shaker for homogenization
[ ]∑ [ ] at 800 rpm for 10 min. The homogenized mixture was centrifuged for
8 1 π2 (2n + 1)2 Deff × t extraction at 6000 rpm for 10 min. Finally, the supernatant was
MR = 2 exp − (8)
π (2n + 1)2 4H2 extracted and collected by repeating centrifugation to obtain the final
extraction. These suspensions containing betalain concentration present
Where Deff: is the diffusion coefficient (m2/s), t and H are the drying
in the beetroot were determined by spectrophotometric methods
time (s) and half-thickness of beetroot slice (m) respectively, n is the
described by (Raikos et al., 2016). The absorbance of 538 nm and 480
number of terms taken into consideration (n = 0, 1, 2,…). The above
nm were taken for betacyanin and betaxanthin, respectively. Total
equation was simplified and can be written as eq. (9).
betalain content was found by the summation of the concentration of
[ ] ( 2 )
8 π betacyanin and betaxanthin. The betalains concentration (BC) was
lnMR = ln 2 − D .t (9)
π 4H 2 eff measured by eq. (15).

Arrhenius equation was used to determine the Ea, as the function of
Deff and temperature, and it is represented by eq. (5).
( )
Ea
Deff = D0 exp − (10)
RT
Where D0 is the pre-exponential factor (m2/s), Ea is the activation
energy (kJ/mol), R and T are the universal gas constant (J/mol/K), and
temperature (K) respectively.
2.7.2. Mass transfer coefficient
The mass transfer coefficient represents the moisture diffusion pro­
cess during drying, while the Biot number states the resistance offered to
moisture transport from the food material to the drying medium and can
be expressed as eqs. (11)-(13) (Şevik et al., 2019).
Deff × Bi
hm = (11)
H
Bi =
24.848
(12)
Di0.375
v nm using a UV-spectrophotometer. A standard solution of Gallic acid
Di = (13)
kH
Where hm is the convective mass transfer coefficient (m/s); Bi and Di
are the Biot number and Dincer number, respectively; v and H are the air
velocity (m/s) and thickness of the beetroot slices (m); k is the drying
constant was best-fitted model statistical indicators.
2.8. Quality attributes changes during drying
2.8.1. Colour measurement
Colour is the vital quality attribute of food products for acceptance to
the consumer. The colour parameters of the beetroot slices were
measured using a colourimeter (Minolta colourimeter (CR-410, Minolta
Co. Ltd, Japan) after each hour during drying for both ETSD drying and
sun drying. The total colour difference was determined following eq.
(14) as reported by
√̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅
( )2 ( )2
ΔE = L0 − L + (a0 − a)2 + b0 − b
Where ΔE is total colour changes during the drying process, Lo is the
initial value of L per unit drying time, ao is the initial value of a per-unit
drying time, and bo is the initial value of b per unit drying time.
Betalainconcentration(BCmg/L) =
A × DF × MW × 1000
(15)
(e × l)
Where A is the absorption, DF is the dilution factor and path length is
taken as 1 cm. For calculation of betaxanthin and betacyanin, the values
of molecular weights (MW) and molar extinction coefficients (e) are
MW = 308 g/mol; e = 48,000 L/mol cm in H2O and MW = 550 g/mol; e
= 60,000 L/mol cm in H2O respectively.
2.8.4. Determination of total phenolic contents (TPC)
The concentration of the total phenolic compound in the beetroot
powder extract sample was estimated with the help of a spectropho­
tometer be following the Folin-Ciocalteu method as described by
(Kasara et al., 2020) and (Wang et al., 2020). 1 mL of each sample
extract was diluted with 5 mL ethanol (50% v/v). After that, 0.5 mL of
10% (v/v) Folin-Ciocalteu (FC) reagent was mixed in the above mixture
and then placed in a dark place by covering aluminum paper at 25 ◦ C for
5 min. After that, 1 mL of sodium carbonate solution (75 g/L) was mixed
into the solution and kept for incubation for 1hr in the dark place at
room temperature. The absorbance of each sample was measured at 760
was used to make a calibration curve to find out the concentration of
phenolic content by putting the absorbance value and the results were
shown in the form of mg of GA equivalents (E)/1 g dry weight (db).
2.8.5. Determination of antioxidant capacity
The antioxidant capacity of the beetroot sample was determined by
the DPPH method, which was conducted according to the method of (Liu
et al., 2020). 0.1 mL of each diluted sample extract was mixed with 3 mL
of 0.1 mM DPPH solution and kept in the dark by covering aluminum
paper at normal room temperature for 30 min. The absorbance of the
solution of each sample was measured at 517 nm against ethanol blank
in UV Spectrophotometer. A calibration curve using Trolox at different
concentrations of 0–80 μmol/L was used to find the antioxidant capacity
of each sample by putting the absorbance value. The results were shown
milligram of Trolox (TE) equivalent per gram of dry weight powder (mg
TE/g dw). Every sample absorbance reading was recorded in triplicate,
and the results were calculated of the average value. The DPPH solution
without mixing the extract was analyzed as a control. Scavenging ac­
(14)
tivity was calculated by eq. (16).
Acontrol − Asample
DPPHradical − scavengingactivity(%) = × 100 (16)
Asample

2.9. Statistical analysis

2.8.2. Water activity
Water activity (aw) is an important quality attribute parameter to
The mathematical modeling of the thin-layer drying kinetics of
know the chances of deterioration of food products during storage. The
beetroot was analyzed using OriginPro v21 (OriginLab Corp., North­
water activity of beetroot slices was measured after each one hour using
ampton, MA, USA) and MATLAB R18b (MathWorks, Inc., Natick, MA,
a water activity meter (Aqualab, Meter Group, Inc., Pullman, USA).
USA) for the identification of goodness of fits and the best-fitted model.
All the experimental data were subjected to analysis of variance
2.8.3. Betalain
(ANOVA) and Duncan’s Multiple Range Test (DMRT) to identify the
Betalain is one type of water-soluble nitrogen-containing compound
significance (p ≤ 0.05) effects on quality attributes using SPSS 21.0
consisting of betacyanin and betaxanthin. The extraction of betalain
(SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) statistical software.
from the beetroot was followed as described by Nistor et al. (2017) with
some modification. 1 g of beetroot sample powder was mixed in 10 mL

250
S. Malakar et al. Solar Energy 233 (2022) 246–258

3. Results and discussion
3.1. Thermal performance on No load condition
Thermal performance analysis of a solar dryer plays a vital role in
ensuring the desired temperature is achieved and for the selection of
food commodities to be dried. Thermal performance of the ETSD was
investigated at no load condition as depicted in Fig. 3(a).
It has been found that at no load condition, the relative humidity,
solar radiation, ambient temperature, and drying chamber temperature
varied in the range from 36 to 43.5%, 320–1035 W/m2, 30.6–41.5 ◦ C,
and 48–75 ◦ C, respectively. The temperature achieved inside the drying
chamber was increased with the increase of solar radiation intensity
from 9.30 to 1.30 PM; after that, it gradually decreased with time. The
maximum temperature inside the drying chamber and ambient tem­
perature were recorded as 75 ◦ C ± 0.32 ◦ C and 41.5 ◦ C ± 0.32 ◦ C,
respectively at the solar intensity of 1016 ± 5.24 W/m2 at 1.30 PM. The
average temperature and temperature gradient were 63.78 ◦ C ± 0.32 ◦ C
and 28.53 ◦ C ± 0.32 ◦ C, respectively. The variation of results due to the
fluctuation of solar intensity, relative humidity, and ambient tempera­
ture of air. The present finding supports the view that the temperature
range achieved is permissible for drying food material without degrad­
ing its nutritional values. The ambient temperature, solar intensity, and
dryer temperature varied 20–27 ◦ C, 210–980 W/m2, and 36–63 ◦ C,
respectively, in a low-cost solar dryer (Poonia et al., 2018). The tem­
perature inside the drying chamber can be extended by 23.05% after
sunshine by using phase change materials as thermal storage (Babar
et al., 2019), and paraffin wax was recommended for solar energy
storage solar drying application (Babar et al., 2020a). The finding of a
solar dryer based on ETSC using heat pipe enhance thermal performance
which agrees well with existing studies on enhancing thermal perfor­
mance by using perforated baffles on two sides of the FPC collector
(Khanlari et al., 2020).

ETSD drying chamber temperature (˚C) Relative humidity (%)

Ambient tempertaure (˚C) Solar intensity (W/m²)

80 1200
Temperature (°C)/Humidity (%)

70
1000

Solar intensity (W/m²)

60
800
50
40 600
30
400
20
200
10
0 0

Drying time (hh:mm)

(a)

ETSD drying chamber temperature (˚C)

80 Ambient temperature (˚C) 1200
Solar intensity (W/m²)
70
1000
Solar intensity (W/m²)

60
Tempearture (°C)

50 800

40 600
30
400
20

10 200

Drying time (hh:mm)

(b)
Fig. 3. Thermal profile of the developed evacuated tube solar dryer at (a)–No load condition. (b)- With load condition of beetroot slices during drying.

251
S. Malakar et al. Solar Energy 233 (2022) 246–258

3.2. Thermal profile of ETSD and sun during drying of beetroot slices moisture evaporation observed in ETSD.
This investigation shows similar trends for drying garlic cloves in
The temperature achieved in ETSD and ambient temperature were ETSD to reduce moisture content 69 to 8% within the drying period of 8
recorded during drying of beetroot and presented in Fig. 3(b). It has h (Malakar et al., 2021). Although the experiment on conductive hydro
been observed that the temperature of the drying chamber was drying and tray drying of beetroot shows that the moisture content
maximum, i.e., 69 ◦ C ± 0.32 at the solar intensity of 1056 ± 5.24 W/m2 reduced from 84% to 5%, the conductive hydro dryer required 90 min at
during mid-noon of the drying period; after that, it decreases with drying 60 ◦ C, 120 min at 50 ◦ C, 180 min at 40 ◦ C, and tray dryer required 210
time. The maximum ambient temperature and solar intensity was min, 180 min, and 150 min at 40,50, and 60 ◦ C respectively (Preethi
recorded at 41 ◦ C ± 0.32 and 1056 ± 5.24 W/m2 respectively during the et al., 2020).
sun drying of beetroot. Moreover, the solar radiation intensity was
varied from 380 to 1085 ± 5.24 W/m2 during the drying period of
3.4. Drying rate
beetroot. The average temperature of the drying chamber in ETSD and
sun drying were recorded at 56.78 ◦ C ± 0.32 and 34.91 ◦ C ± 0.32,
The variation of drying rate of beetroot during drying in ETSD and
respectively. The maximum temperature gradient and average temper­
sun drying is shown in Fig. 4. The drying rate increased initially with an
ature gradient were 30.4 ◦ C and 21.86 ◦ C, respectively. This may be
increase in the solar intensity for the first 4 h of drying; after that, it
attributed to the fact that a higher amount of heat energy is gained from
decreased with drying time. The maximum drying rate of beetroot was
the condenser of the heat pipe of the ETSC. The investigation revealed
found to be 16.65 g water/g solid.hr at 12:30 PM and 12.76 g water/g
that the higher temperature and average temperature gradient was
solid.hr at 1.30 PM in ETSD and sun-drying, respectively. The average
maintained in ETSD compared to sun drying. The observations also
drying rate was 8.50 g water/g solid.hr and 7.94 g water/g solid.hr in
agree with the results reported that the highest temperature difference
ETSD and sun drying respectively. The higher drying rate was observed
in greenhouse dryer using quadruple pass solar collector was obtained as
in ETSD at the initial drying period due to the higher drying temperature
28.10 ◦ C at 0.008 kg/s air flow rate (Tuncer et al., 2020).
achieved which imparts higher moisture diffusivity which results quick
Overall, these findings are in accordance with findings that reported
removal of free moisture from the beetroot slices. The drying rate
the variation of drying chamber temperature with solar intensity during
continuously decreases after 12.30 PM to the falling rate that occurred
drying mushroom in a passive flat plate solar dryer (Babar et al., 2020b).
during the drying of beetroot slices. This is in contrast with the findings
The solar intensity and dryer temperature at load condition were varied
of the drying rate of beetroot slices ranges from 0.022 to 0.07 kg water/
210–920 W/m2 and 34–49 ◦ C followed by the average and maximum
min.m2 dried at 50 to 120 ◦ C (Gokhale and Lele, 2011).
solar intensity and drying temperature was found 710 W/m2, 980 W/
m2, and 41 ◦ C and 49 ◦ C respectively (Poonia et al., 2018).
3.5. Moisture ratio and mathematical modeling

3.3. Moisture content
The variation of moisture content of beetroot during drying in ETSD
and sun drying are shown in Fig. 4. The initial moisture content of
beetroot slices was found 84.05 ± 2.5% (wb) while final moisture con­
tent reached 9.28 ± 2.5% (wb) and 13.56 ± 2.5% (wb) in ETSD and sun-
drying, respectively, in 8 h of the drying period. Moisture content
reduced to 4.28%±2.5 (wb) more in ETSD than sun drying in the same
drying period. The reduction of moisture content beetroot was higher in
ETSD and subsequently reduced drying time than sun drying due to
higher average drying temperature was maintained in ETSD dryer
chamber. Although, the rate of moisture transport from the centre of
product to surface due to diffusion mechanism which leads to raising the
vapor pressure difference between drying air as a result of faster
The variation of moisture ratio with drying time in ETSD and sun
drying is shown in Fig. 5. The moisture ratio decreases with the same
trends during the drying period in both drying systems. The results de­
picts that the moisture reduction rate was higher in ETSD than in sun-
drying due to the higher temperature maintained inside the drying
chamber. The final moisture ratio of 0.019 and 0.029 was found in ETSD
and sun-drying, respectively, after 8 h of drying. The identical patterns
of decreasing moisture ratio were reported in the different researchers of
beetroot drying in convective drying (Dasore et al., 2020; Gokhale and
Lele, 2011).
Semi-empirical thin layer models are mainly used to describe and
predict the drying kinetics of food materials. Eight different semi-
empirical thin-layer drying models were fitted based on the moisture
ratio of beetroot slices in both ETSD and sun drying. Their goodness fits

ETSD drying (MC) Sun drying (MC)

ESTD drying rate Sun drying rate
18 Solar intensity 1200
Dying rate (g water/g solid.hr)/

16
Moisture content×10 (wb %)

1000
Solar intensity W/m²

14
12 800
10
600
8
6 400
4
200
2
0 0

Drying time (hh:mm)

Fig. 4. Variation of drying rate and moisture content of beetroot in ETSD and sun-drying vs. drying time.

252
S. Malakar et al. Solar Energy 233 (2022) 246–258

1 found to be 1.94 × 10-7 m2s− 1 and 1.70 × 10-7 m2s− 1 in ETSD and sun-
ETSD drying drying, respectively. The EMD was higher in ETSD due to force con­
Sun drying vection drying occurred. The variability of EMD is higher in sun-drying
0.8
than in ETSD drying due to the fluctuation of solar radiation intensity
and molecular movement which leads to escalated EMD at higher tem­
0.6 peratures. These results seem to be consistent with other research
Moisture ratio

0.4
0.2
0 mole in ETSD and sun-drying, respectively. It has been observed that the
Drying time (hh:mm)
Fig. 5. Variation of moisture ratio during drying period in ETSD and
sun drying.
and coefficients are presented in Table 4.
All the models are fitted with valid goodness of fits except the
Modified page model, Logarithmic model, and Newton model are found
to be not fit based on the moisture ratio data of beetroot slices. It
observed that the value of the coefficient of determination (R2) for all
other mathematical models was more than 0.98, except the page model
for both drying methods. Among the fitted five models mentioned
above, the Weibull model with the highest R2: 0.9998 and lowest χ2:
2.196 × 10-5 and RMSE: 0.0140 values were found suitable to describe
the drying kinetics of beetroot in ETSD drying. Midilli kucuk is the most
suitable model to predict the drying kinetics of beetroot slices in the sun
drying with the highest R2: 0.9973 and lowest χ2: 4.591 × 10-4 and
RMSE: 0.0172. Similar results demonstrated that the Weibull model was
identified to be best-fitting for drying of garlic clove in ETSD (Malakar
and Arora, 2021b).
3.6. Mass transfer phenomena
3.6.1. Effective moisture diffusivity (Deff) and activation energy (Ea)
Moisture diffusion of water and the activation energy of food mate­
rials during drying are important attributes in predicting the moisture
transfer phenomena. The variation of effective moisture diffusivity
(EMD) during the drying period is shown in Fig. 6(a). The variation of
EMD ranges 1.01 × 10-7 to 2.45 × 10-7 m2s− 1 and 1.19 × 10-7 to 2.24 ×
10-7 m2s− 1 in ETSD and sun-drying, respectively. The EMD increased
with the temperature increase during the drying, with average EMD was
findings the diffusion coefficient ranges 4.8 × 10-8 to 2.73 × 10-7 for
pumpkin slices (Guiné et al., 2011), 1.13 × 10-6 to 5.11 × 10-6 for to­
mato puree dried in the convective dryer (Dianda et al., 2015).
Activation energy dependence of natural logarithm of the diffusion
coefficient is calculated by Arrhenius plot with a slope of Ln (Deff) vs. 1/
T. The activation energy was found to be 27.60 kJ/mole and 57.15 kJ/
small amount of energy required in ETSD then sun drying to activate the
moisture diffusion leads to an increase in the drying rate. This may be
attributes the fact that the diffusion of moisture from the surface of the
sample is faster due to the loosely bonded moisture with other com­
pounds. This result supports the ranges of activation energy of
28.46–45.20 kJ/mol of ivy gourd dried in a solar dryer (Elangovan and
Natarajan, 2021), 75.6 kJ/mol of tomato pomaces dried on a solar
greenhouse dryer (Badaoui et al., 2019).
3.6.2. Mass transfer coefficient
Convective mass transfer coefficient signifies the moisture transport
from food material during drying. The variation of mass transfer coef­
ficient with time is shown in Fig. 6(b). The maximum mass transfer
coefficient estimated were 3.23 × 10-4 and 3.18 × 10-4 m/s in ETSD and
sun-drying, respectively. The average moisture transfer coefficient was
higher as 2.40 × 10-4 m/s in ETSD and 2.20 10-4 m/s in the sun drying
due to increased moisture diffusivity and external force convection flow
of air in ETSD. The mass transfer coefficient was increased initially with
increased temperature and drying time, and after that, it continuously
decreased with time. These results supported the increasing drying rate
with increasing mass transfer coefficient in ETSD and sun drying of
beetroot slices. These results are in accordance with findings reported of
convective mass transfer coefficient in ranges of 1.95 × 10-7 to of 2.11 ×
10-7 m/s for kiwifruit slices dried 45 ◦ C heat pump dryer (Mohammadi
et al., 2018), 8.53 × 10-8 m/s to 6.38 × 10-5 m/s for potato (Ilicali and
Icier, 2016).
3.7. Quality attributes of beetroot during drying
3.7.1. Colour measurement
The L, a, and b values were measured every one hour during drying
of beetroot slices in ETSD and sun drying and are shown in Fig. 7 (a), (b),
and (c), respectively. A minimal variation with the increasing the L-

Table 4
Model goodness fits and coefficients of different thin layers drying kinetics.
Sl No Model Name Drying Method R2 χ2 RMSE Estimated parameters

k n a b k1

1 Page ETSD 0.96452 0.00491 0.0418 471.92 8.804 — — ——

Sun 0.95139 0.00607 0.0251 58.314 6.232 — — —
2 Modified page ETSD No fit
Sun No fit
3 Henderson and Pabis ETSD 0.993 0.0009693 0.0350 11.457 — 96.1163 — —
Sun 0.9955 5.578 × 10-4 0.0242 9.33159 — 40.254 — —
4 Two-term ETSD 0.993 0.00136 0.0416 11.458 — 48.068 48.068 11.4581
Sun 0.99553 7.809 × 10-4 0.0284 9.3317 — 20.1285 20.1285 9.3317
5 Midilli kucuk. ETSD 0.9996 1.180 × 10-4 0.0083 24.9294 3.56619 2.4716 0.03635 —
Sun 0.9973 4.591 £ 10-4 0.0172 8.7494 1.01902 27.8192 − 0.0547 —
6 Weibull ETSD 0.9998 2.196 £ 10-5 0.0140 9.1584 − 8.454 1.1089 1.1062 —
Sun 0.99725 4.857 × 10-4 0.0168 0.0089 − 3.6983 4.505 4.62101 —
7 Logarithmic ETSD No fit
Sun No fit
8 Newton ETSD No fit
Sun No fit

253
S. Malakar et al. Solar Energy 233 (2022) 246–258

3.00E-07
ETSD drying

Effective moisture diffusivity (m2/s)

EMD_ETSD EMD_ SD

Mass transfer coefficient (m/s)

3.0E-04
2.50E-07 Sun drying
2.5E-04
2.00E-07
2.0E-04
1.50E-07
1.5E-04
1.00E-07

5.00E-08 1.0E-04

0.00E+00 5.0E-05

Drying time (hh:mm) Drying time (hh:mm)

(a) (b)
Fig. 6. (a)-Effective moisture diffusivity (EMD) and (b)- Mass transfer coefficient vs. drying time.

ETSD drying Sun drying

ETSD drying Sun drying

17.42
17.42
28.44

16.38
28.62

16.38
19
27.8
26.07
25.98

25.07

30
25.49

25.7
24.48
24.98

24.87

14.13
25.2
24.56

25.5

17
23.24
22.46
22.46

22.35

25 15

12.03

12.1
11.9
13
20
11
L-value

a value

7.72
7.96
15 9

5.54

4.71
7

4.41

4.35
10

3.75
5

2.41
2.16

1.56
5 3
0 1
-1

Drying time (hh:mm)

Drying time (hh:mm)
(a)
(b)
8
ETSD drying Sun drying ETSD drying
Total colour changes (ΔE)
3.14
3.14

3.5 7
3.03

Sun drying
2.78

2.74

2.71

3 6
2.52
2.34

5
2.5
2.07

1.92

4
1.9
b -value

2
1.57

1.56
1.53
1.52
1.43

3
1.14

1.5 2
0.71

1 1
0.5 0

Drying time (hh:mm)

Drying time (hh:mm)
(d)
(c)
Fig. 7. Variation colour value (a) L-values (b) a-value, and (c) b-value, and total colour changes with time for both ETSD and sun drying.

value was observed in both ETSD drying and sun drying of beetroot 3.75 in ETSD, and 17.42 and 1.56 in sun drying, respectively. Similarly,
slices. The colour attribute of L- value changes from 22.46 to 28.44 in the b-value changed from 3.14 to 0.71 and 3.14 to 1.14 in ETSD and sun-
ETSD drying and 22.46 to 28.62 in sun drying. However, the a-value and drying, respectively. The maximum fluctuation of a-value and b-value
b-value were decreased with drying time increases in both ETSD drying was observed during the mid-drying period, i.e., 11.30 AM − 2.30 PM,
and sun drying. The maximum and minimum a-value were 17.42 and due to the maximum temperature achieved and maximum colour

254
S. Malakar et al. Solar Energy 233 (2022) 246–258

changes from red to brownish of beetroot slices. Similar trends of colour Table 5
parameters of Celery root of L, a, and b value ranges from 67.32 to Water activity, betacyanin, and betaxanthin content of beetroot during ETSD
81.35, − 0.75 to 4.17, and 15.34 and 27.52 respectively dried in FPC and sun drying.
solar dryer integrated with baffles (Khanlari et al., 2020). Drying Betacyanin (mg/g) Betaxanthin (mg/g) Water activity
Total colour changes during drying beetroot in ETSD and sun drying Time db db
are shown in Fig. 7 (d). Initially, the total colour changes increase with ETSD Sun ETSD Sun ETSD Sun
the increase of drying temperature up to 1.30 PM; after that, it continues drying drying drying drying drying drying
decreasing with time. The maximum colour value changes were 9.30 AM 0.319 0.319 0.284 0.284 0.98 0.98
observed at 6.83 and 7.54 in ETSD drying and sun drying respectively of 10.30 0.361 0.191 0.360 0.182 0.97 0.97
beetroot slices due to the drying rate increased with increasing tem­ AM
perature and solar intensity. 11.30 1.297 0.134 0.263 0.246 0.87 0.96
AM
The maximum colour changes were observed in sun-drying 12.30 3.125 0.325 2.070 0.384 0.74 0.92
compared to ETSD drying of beetroot due to the maximum degrada­ PM
tion of betalain pigment during the initial drying period. The average 1.30 PM 3.149 0.195 3.017 0.183 0.68 0.89
colour value changes 3.40 and 3.62 from the fresh sample of beetroot 2.30 PM 4.162 0.679 3.174 1.284 0.52 0.84
3.30 PM 4.156 0.613 2.425 0.845 0.41 0.74
slices in ETSD drying and sun drying, respectively. The visual appear­
4.30 PM 3.383 1.599 3.466 1.844 0.38 0.64
ance of fresh and dried beetroot slices is shown in Fig. 8. It has been 5.30 PM 3.034 2.560 2.707 2.702 0.34 0.55
observed that the colour changes from red pigment to brown and dark
brown in ETSD drying and sun drying, respectively, due to the degra­
dation of betalains pigment present in beetroot slices. This investigation 3.7.3. Betalain
supports a similar trend reported on an experiment on drying beetroot at The major pigment present in beetroot is betalain which contains
different temperatures in a hot air oven that the L value increased with betacyanin and betaxanthin. The colour pigment content such as beta­
increasing temperature and a and b value decreased with increasing cyanin, betaxanthin changes during drying of beetroot slices in ETSD
temperature and total colour changes on the increase with drying time and sun drying are presented in Table 5. Initially, the betacyanin,
(Liu et al., 2020). Moreover, the total colour changes of beetroot powder betaxanthin, and betalain for fresh beetroot were 0.319, 0.284, and
increase with increasing temperature (Gokhale and Lele, 2011). 0.603 mg/g dry matter, respectively. The colour pigments were
increased with the drying period in both ETSD drying and sun drying of
3.7.2. Water activity beetroot. In the case of ETSD, the betacyanin and betaxanthin were
Water activity (aw) is an important parameter to support the growth found to have a maximum of 4.162 mg/g dry weight powder and 3.174
of micro-organisms and increase the stability of the food product. The mg/g dry weight powder at 2.30 PM, respectively. Similar observations
water activity changes during drying in ETSD and sun drying of beetroot were found in the case of sun-drying; the betacyanin and betaxanthin
is given in Table 5. It has been observed that the water activity was were found a maximum of 2.560 mg/g dry weight powder and 2.702
found 0.98 which decreased substantially with increased drying time mg/g dry weight powder at the last drying period.
and temperature. The rapid reduction of water activity value was found The betalain content changes in ETSD drying and sun drying are
in ETSD drying compared to sun drying of beetroot slices. The water shown in Fig. 9. The betalain content increased with the increasing
activity value was reduced from initial to 0.34 in ETSD and 0.55 in the drying period up to 2.30 PM in ETSD; after that, it decreased with drying
sun drying within the drying period of 8 h due to a higher drying rate in time. The average betalain content was 4.49 mg/g dry matter and 1.61
ETSD drying. The results support that the dried beetroot’s achievable mg/g dry matter in ETSD and sun-drying, respectively. However, the
water activity can be safely stored for further processing. In this betalain content was increased with the drying period due to the fact
experiment, the rapid reduction of water activity in ETSD was high for that the reduction of free moisture and breakdown of the intercellular
drying rate due to the high temperature leads to hydration of macro­ bond of the betalain pigment and leads to the degradation of heat-
molecules of the beetroot slices. Similar trends of effective reduction of sensitive substances like pigments and bioactive compounds. This
water activity had been reported by (Preethi et al., 2020). finding broadly supports the work of other studies on beetroot increase
in temperature the yield of betacyanin content was increased (Rav­
ichandran et al., 2013).

Fresh beetroot slices ETSD dried beetroot slices Sun-dried beetroot slices
Fig. 8. Fresh and dried beetroot in ETSD and sun drying.

255
S. Malakar et al. Solar Energy 233 (2022) 246–258

8.00 ETSD drying 3.7.5. Antioxidant activity

7.00 Sun drying
6.00
5.00
4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
0.00
Fig. 9. Variation of betalain content with drying time in ETSD drying and
sun drying.
3.7.4. Total phenolic content
Total phenolic compounds are very important for pigmentation and
the growth of nutritional value. The influence of ETSD drying and sun
drying methods on changing beetroot samples’ total phenolic content is
presented in Fig. 10. It was found that with the increase of drying time,
the total phenol content significantly (p ≤ 0.05) decreased. The
maximum phenolic content was found to be 4.37 mg GAE /g dry wt. in
ETSD drying. The average phenolic content was 3.02 mg GAE/g dry
powder (dry basis) and 2.08 mg GAE/g for ETSD and sun-drying,
respectively. In this experiment, the concentration of total phenolic
content was much higher in beetroot in ETSD drying compared to sun
drying.
However, phenolic content is also decreased with the increase of
drying time in ETSD drying might be due to the reduction of free
moisture content with the increased dry matter with drying time.
Moreover, the adverse effect due to exposure of heat that affects the
integrity of the cells and results in extensive migration of phenolic
compounds which may degraded due to enzymatic reactions, migrated
breakage bond, and enhanced oxidation reactions. The phenolic content
of Pepino fruit of 5 mm thickness dried in a double-pass indirect solar
dryer was found 965.39 (umol TE/ 100 g dry matter), which is higher
than 3 mm thickness. (Güler et al., 2020).. Similarly, the researcher
performed experiments on drying beetroot at 40 to 60 ◦ C in conductive
hydro drying and tray drying. The result reported that fresh beetroot had
more phenolic content and decreased with increasing temperature
(Preethi et al., 2020).
Antioxidant activity inhibits nutrient oxidation by increasing the
functional benefit in the food materials. The variation of antioxidant
activity of beetroot during drying in ETSD and sun drying is presented in
Fig. 11. It has been observed that the antioxidant activity of fresh
beetroot slices was found to be 8.02 mgTE/g dry wt which significantly
(p ≤ 0.05) reduced with the drying period in both drying methods due to
increasing the drying temperature. The average antioxidant activity was
found at 4.45 mgTE/g dry wt. and 3.48 mgTE/g dry wt. in ETSD and sun
drying respectively. The reduction of antioxidant activity is probably
due to an increase of temperature and dry matter with drying time which
also agrees with the result reported by (Ravichandran et al., 2013).
Moreover, it was noticed that the higher antioxidant capacity of beetroot
was maintained in ETSD compared to sun drying due to the less
degradation of high phenolics and betalain content. Similarly, the re­
searchers reported that fresh beetroot has a more antioxidant capacity,
and after that, it decreased with increasing temperature dried in
convective hydro-drying and tray drying (Preethi et al., 2020).
4. Conclusion
The thermal performance of an ETSD was determined on load and
no-load conditions for drying beetroot slices. Drying kinetics, mass
transfer parameters, and quality attributes change in beetroot slices
were compared between ETSD and sun drying. This research provides
the following conclusions to address the drying characteristics and
quality retention of beetroot slices dried in an evacuated tube-based
solar dryer.
1. The average temperature of the drying chamber of ETSD achieved
was 63.78 ◦ C and 56.78 ◦ C at no load and a full load of beetroot
slices, respectively. Hence ETSD is suitable for drying beetroot slices.
2. The maximum drying rate was 16.65 g water/g dry solid.hr and
12.76 g water/g dry solid.hr in ETSD and sun-drying, respectively.
Moreover, the average drying rate is higher in ETSD than sun drying
of beetroot slices.
3. Weibull model and Midilli kucuk model are most suitable to describe
the drying kinetics of beetroot slices in ETSD and sun-drying
respectively.
4. The average betalain content of dried beetroot slice was 63.98%
higher than sun drying, indicating higher colour retention in ETSD.
5. The average phenolic content of 3.02 mg GAE/g dry powder (dry
basis) and antioxidant capacity of 4.45 mgTE/g dry wt were found in
ETSD drying of beetroot slices, which is higher as compared to sun
drying.

5
a a ETSD drying Sun drying
4.5
4 ba
Total phenolic content

b b
(mg GAE/g dry wt)

3.5
3
b b cb
2.5 d d d
2 c cd d d
1.5 e
1
0.5
0

Drying time (hh:mm)

Fig. 10. Change of total phenolic content with time in ETSD drying and sun drying. Small case letters represent the effect of drying time, and different letters show
significantly different at 5% level of significance by DMRT.

256
S. Malakar et al.
9 aa
8 b
7
b c
Anti-oxidant capacity
6
c d
(mg TE/g dry wt)
5 e
4 d
3 he
2 f
1
0
Drying time (hh:mm)
Fig. 11. Change of antioxidant capacity with time in ETSD drying and sun drying. Small case letters represent the effect of drying time, and different letters show
significantly different at 5% level of significance by DMRT.
The experimental investigation showed that the evacuated tube with
heat pipe-based solar dryer has the potential to reduce the drying time
and ensure better quality attributes of dried beetroot slices. Moreover,
the dryer can be used for mid-temperature range drying of all other food
products. Further research can be carried out to improve the overall
performance by using different collector design geometry, copper fins,
tracking and non-tracking, and reducing the heat loss during operations.
Also, phase change material assisted drying with pre-treatment of the
food product prior to drying should be considered in future experiments.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgment
The authors are thankful to the National Institute of Food Technol­
ogy Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM) Haryana, India, for
providing the infrastructural and other supports to conduct this research
work. Authors also acknowledge Mr. Rajeev Gupta, Head, COE, BDM,
JSL and Mr. Nimish Goel, Jindal Stainless Ltd. for providing SS 304 raw
materials and fabrication support for making the drying chamber of the
evacuated tube solar dryer. The support by Jindal stainless Ltd in this
research work is appreciable and Authors are thankful for same.
Funding
This research received no specific grant from any external funding
agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
References
Afshari, F., Tuncer, A.D., Sözen, A., Çiftçi, E., Khanlari, A., 2021. Experimental and
numerical analysis of a compact indirect solar dehumidification system. Sol. Energy
226, 72–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2021.08.025.
AOAC, 1990. Official methods of analysis of the Association of Official Analytical
Chemists (Method 934.01), Association of Official Agricultural Chemists, INC.,
Arlington, Virhinia, USA. Arlington, Virhinia, USA.
Aykın-Dinçer, E., Güngör, K.K., Çağlar, E., Erbaş, M., 2021. The use of beetroot extract
and extract powder in sausages as natural food colorant. Int. J. Food Eng. 17, 75–82.
https://doi.org/10.1515/IJFE-2019-0052.
Babar, O.A., Arora, V.K., Nema, P.K., 2020a. Experimental analysis for thermo-physical
properties of phase change materials during accelerated thermal cycling. Aust. J.
Mech. Eng. 00, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/14484846.2020.1794503.
257
Solar Energy 233 (2022) 246–258
ETSD drying Sun drying
g f
gd
e
f
Babar, O.A., Arora, V.K., Nema, P.K., 2019. Selection of phase change material for solar
thermal storage application: a comparative study. J. Brazilian Soc. Mech. Sci. Eng.
41, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-019-1853-1.
Babar, O.A., Tarafdar, A., Malakar, S., Arora, V.K., Nema, P.K., 2020b. Design and
performance evaluation of a passive flat plate collector solar dryer for agricultural
products. J. Food Process Eng. 43 (10) https://doi.org/10.1111/jfpe.
v43.1010.1111/jfpe.13484.
Badaoui, O., Hanini, S., Djebli, A., Haddad, B., Benhamou, A., 2019. Experimental and
modelling study of tomato pomace waste drying in a new solar greenhouse:
Evaluation of new drying models. Renew. Energy 133, 144–155. https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.renene.2018.10.020.
Bazaria, B., Kumar, P., 2018. Optimization of spray drying parameters for beetroot juice
powder using response surface methodology (RSM). J. Saudi Soc. Agric. Sci. 17 (4),
408–415.
Chhikara, N., Kushwaha, K., Sharma, P., Gat, Y., Panghal, A., 2019. Bioactive compounds
of beetroot and utilization in food processing industry : A critical review. Food
Chem. 272, 192–200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2018.08.022.
Çiftçi, E., Khanlari, A., Sözen, A., Aytaç, İ., Tuncer, A.D., 2021. Energy and exergy
analysis of a photovoltaic thermal (PVT) system used in solar dryer: A numerical and
experimental investigation. Renew. Energy 180, 410–423. https://doi.org/10.1016/
j.renene.2021.08.081.
Corzo, O., Bracho, N., Pereira, A., Vásquez, A., 2008. Weibull distribution for modeling
air drying of coroba slices. LWT - Food Sci. Technol. 41 (10), 2023–2028.
Dasore, A., Polavarapu, T., Konijeti, R., Puppala, N., 2020. Convective hot air drying
kinetics of red beetroot in thin layers. Front. Heat Mass Transf. 14, 1–8. https://doi.
org/10.5098/hmt.14.23.
Demiray, E., Tulek, Y., 2014. Drying characteristics of garlic (Allium sativum L) slices in
a convective hot air dryer. Heat Mass Transf. 50 (6), 779–786. https://doi.org/
10.1007/s00231-013-1286-9.
Dhiman, A., Suhag, R., Chauhan, D.S., Thakur, D., Chhikara, S., Prabhakar, P.K., 2021.
Status of beetroot processing and processed products: Thermal and emerging
technologies intervention. Trends Food Sci. Technol. Food Sci. Technol. 114,
443–458. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2021.05.042.
Dianda, B., Ousmane, M., Kam, S., Ky, T., 2015. U., 2015. Experimental study of the
kinetics and shrinkage of tomato slices in convective drying. African J. Food Sci. 9
(5), 262–271. https://doi.org/10.5897/AJFS2015.1298.
Elangovan, E., Natarajan, S.K., 2021. Experimental study on drying kinetics of ivy gourd
using solar dryer. J. Food Process Eng. 44, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1111/
jfpe.13714.
Figiel, A., 2010. Drying kinetics and quality of beetroots dehydrated by combination of
convective and vacuum-microwave methods. J. Food Eng. 98 (4), 461–470.
Gokhale, S.V., Lele, S.S., 2011. Dehydration of red beet root (Beta vulgaris) by hot air
drying: Process optimization and mathematical modeling. Food Sci. Biotechnol. 20,
955–964. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10068-011-0132-4.
Guiné, R.P., Pinho, S., Barroca, M.J., 2011. Study of the convective drying of pumpkin
(Cucurbita maxima). Food Bioprod. Process. 89, 422–428. https://doi.org/10.1016/
j.fbp.2010.09.001.
Güler, H.Ö., Sözen, A., Tuncer, A.D., Afshari, F., Khanlari, A., Şirin, C., Gungor, A., 2020.
Experimental and CFD survey of indirect solar dryer modified with low-cost iron
mesh. Sol. Energy 197, 371–384. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2020.01.021.
Henderson, S.M., Pabis, S., 1991. Grain Drying Theory Temperature Effect on Drying
Coefficient. J. Agric. Eng. Res. 6, 169–174.
Henderson, S.M., 1974. Progress in developing the thin layer drying equation. Trans. Am.
Soc. Agric. Eng. 17 https://doi.org/10.13031/2013.37052.
Ibrahim, A., Othman, M.Y., Ruslan, M.H., Mat, S., Sopian, K., 2011. Recent advances in
flat plate photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) solar collectors. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev.
15, 352–365. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2010.09.024.
S. Malakar et al.
Ilicali, C., Icier, F., 2016. Modified Dincer and Dost Method for Predicting the Mass
Transfer Coefficients in Solids. Int. J. Food Eng. 12, 101–105. https://doi.org/
10.1515/ijfe-2015-0095.
Inyang, U.E., Oboh, I.O., Etuk, B.R., 2018. Kinetic Models for Drying Techniques—Food
Materials. Adv. Chem. Eng. Sci. 08, 27–48. https://doi.org/10.4236/
aces.2018.82003.
Iranmanesh, M., Samimi, H., Saleh, M., Jahromi, B., 2020. CFD modeling and evaluation
the performance of a solar cabinet dryer equipped with evacuated tube solar
collector and thermal storage system. Renew. Energy 145, 1192–1213. https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.renene.2019.06.038.
Kasara, A., Babar, O.A., Tarafdar, A., Senthilkumar, T., Sirohi, R., Arora, V.K., 2020.
Thin-layer drying of sadabahar (Catharanthus roseus) leaves using different drying
techniques and fate of bioactive compounds. J. Food Process. Preserv. https://doi.
org/10.1111/jfpp.15140.
Khaing Hnin, K., Zhang, M., Mujumdar, A.S., Zhu, Y., 2019. Emerging food drying
technologies with energy-saving characteristics: A review. Dry. Technol. 37,
1465–1480. https://doi.org/10.1080/07373937.2018.1510417.
Khanlari, A., Güler, H.Ö., Tuncer, A.D., Şirin, C., Bilge, Y.C., Yılmaz, Y., Güngör, A.,
2020. Experimental and numerical study of the effect of integrating plus-shaped
perforated baffles to solar air collector in drying application. Renew. Energy 145,
1677–1692. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2019.07.076.
Khanlari, A., Sözen, A., Afshari, F., Tuncer, A.D., 2021. Energy-exergy and sustainability
analysis of a PV-driven quadruple-flow solar drying system. Renew. Energy 175,
1151–1166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2021.05.062.
Lamnatou, C., Papanicolaou, E., Belessiotis, V., Kyriakis, N., 2012. Experimental
investigation and thermodynamic performance analysis of a solar dryer using an
evacuated-tube air collector. Appl. Energy 94, 232–243. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
apenergy.2012.01.025.
Lewis, W.I., 1921. The Rate of Drying of Solid Materials. J. Ind. Eng. Chem. 13, 427–432.
Liu, Y., Duan, Z., Sabadash, S., 2020. Effect of hot air drying temperatures on drying
characteristics and physicochemical properties of beetroot (Beta vulgaris) slices. IOP
Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science. 1–13. https://doi.org/
10.1088/1755-1315/615/1/012099.
Malakar, S., Arora, V.K., 2021a. Experimental Investigation of Evacuated Tube Solar Air
Collectors for Drying Application. Lect. Notes Mech. Eng. 395–404 https://doi.org/
10.1007/978-981-15-8704-7_49.
Malakar, S., Arora, V.K., 2021b. Mathematical Modeling of Drying Kinetics of Garlic
Clove in Forced Convection Evacuated Tube Solar Dryer. Lect. Notes Mech. Eng.
813–820 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-0159-0_72.
Malakar, S., Arora, V.K., Nema, P.K., 2021. Design and performance evaluation of an
evacuated tube solar dryer for drying garlic clove. Renew. Energy 168, 568–580.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2020.12.068.
Midilli, A., Kucuk, H., Yapar, Z., 2007. A new model for single-layer drying. Dry.
Technol. 20, 1503–1513. https://doi.org/10.1081/DRT-120005864.
Mohammadi, I., Tabatabaekoloor, R., Motevali, A., 2018. Effect of air recirculation and
heat pump on mass transfer and energy parameters in drying of kiwifruit slices.
Energy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2018.12.099.
Ng, M.L., Sulaiman, R., 2018. Development of beetroot (Beta vulgaris) powder using
foam mat drying. LWT - Food Sci. Technol. 88, 80–86. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.
LWT.2017.08.032.
Nistor, O., Seremet, L., Georgeta, D., Rudi, L., 2017. Influence of different drying
methods on the physicochemical properties of red beetroot (Beta vulgaris L. var.
Cylindra). Food Chem. 236, 59–67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
foodchem.2017.04.129.
Page, G.E., 1949. Factors Influencing the Maximum of Air Drying Shelled Corn in Thin
Layer. Purdue University, Purdue, IN.
Poonia, S., Singh, A.K., Santra, P., Mishra, D., 2018. Design, Development and
Performance Evolution of a Low-Cost Solar Dryer. Concentrated Solar Thermal
Energy Technol. 219–223. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4576-9_20.
258
View publication stats
Solar Energy 233 (2022) 246–258
Preethi, R., Deotale, S.M., Moses, J.A., Anandharamakrishnan, C., 2020. Conductive
hydro drying of beetroot (Beta vulgaris L) pulp: Insights for natural food colorant
applications. J. Food Process Eng. 43 https://doi.org/10.1111/jfpe.13557.
Raikos, V., Mcdonagh, A., Ranawana, V., Duthie, G., 2016. Processed beetroot (Beta
vulgaris L.) as a natural antioxidant in mayonnaise : Effects on physical stability,
texture and sensory attributes. Food Sci. Hum. Wellness 5, 191–198.
Ravichandran, K., Min, N., Thaw, M., Mohdaly, A.A.A., Gabr, A.M.M., Kastell, A.,
Riedel, H., Cai, Z., Knorr, D., Smetanska, I., 2013. Impact of processing of red beet on
betalain content and antioxidant activity. Food Res. Int. 50, 670–675. https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.foodres.2011.07.002.
Seremet, L., Nistor, O., Georgeta, D., Danut, G., Vasilica, V., Maidan, A., Rudi, L., 2020.
Development of several hybrid drying methods used to obtain red beetroot powder.
Food Chem. 310 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2019.125637.
Şevik, S., Aktaş, M., Dolgun, E.C., Arslan, E., Tuncer, A.D., 2019. Performance analysis of
solar and solar-infrared dryer of mint and apple slices using energy-exergy
methodology. Sol. Energy 180, 537–549. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
solener.2019.01.049.
Shringi, V., Kothari, S., Panwar, N.L., 2014. Experimental investigation of drying of
garlic clove in solar dryer using phase change material as energy storage. J. Therm.
Anal. Calorim. 118, 29–41. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-014-3991-0.
Szadzińska, J., Mierzwa, D., Pawłowski, A., Musielak, G., Pashminehazar, R.,
Kharaghani, A., 2020. Ultrasound- and microwave-assisted intermittent drying of
red beetroot. Dry. Technol. 38, 93–107. https://doi.org/10.1080/
07373937.2019.1624565.
Tamarit-Pino, Y., Batías-Montes, J.M., Segura-Ponce, L.A., Díaz-Álvarez, R.E., Guzmán-
Meza, M.F., Quevedo-León, R.A., 2020. Effect of electrohydrodynamic pretreatment
on drying rate and rehydration properties of Chilean sea cucumber (Athyonidium
chilensis). Food Bioprod. Process. 123, 284–295. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
fbp.2020.07.012.
Tiwari, S., Tiwari, G.N., 2016. Thermal analysis of photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) single
slope roof integrated greenhouse solar dryer. Sol. Energy 138, 128–136. https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.solener.2016.09.014.
Togrul, I.T., Pehlivan, D., 2002. Mathematical modelling of solar drying of apricots in
thin layers. J. Food Eng. 55, 209–216. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0260-8774(02)
00065-1.
Tuncer, A.D., Sözen, A., Khanlari, A., Amini, A., Şirin, C., 2020. Thermal performance
analysis of a quadruple-pass solar air collector assisted pilot-scale greenhouse dryer.
Sol. Energy 203, 304–316. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2020.04.030.
Ubale, A.B., Pangavhane, D., Auti, A., 2017. Performance analysis of forced convection
evacuated tube solar collector used for grape dryer. J. Eng. Sci. Technol. 12, 42–53.
Umayal, A.R., Neelamegam, P., Subramanian, C.V., 2014. Drying Kinetics of Muscat
Grapes in a Solar Drier with Evacuated Tube Collector. Int. J. Eng. 27, 811–818.
https://doi.org/10.5829/idosi.ije.2014.27.05b.18.
Vallespir, F., Cárcel, J.A., Marra, F., Eim, V.S., Simal, S., 2017. Improvement of Mass
Transfer by Freezing Pre-treatment and Ultrasound Application on the Convective
Drying of Beetroot (Beta vulgaris L.). Food Bioprocess Technol. 11, 72–83. https://
doi.org/10.1007/s11947-017-1999-8.
Vijayan, S., Arjunan, T.V., Kumar, A., 2020. Exergo-environmental analysis of an indirect
forced convection solar dryer for drying bitter gourd slices. Renew. Energy 146,
2210–2223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2019.08.066.
Wang, T., Liu, L., Rakhmanova, A., Wang, X., Shan, Y., Yi, Y., Liu, B., Zhou, Y., Lü, X.,
2020. Stability of bioactive compounds and in vitro gastrointestinal digestion of red
beetroot jam : Effect of processing and storage. Food Biosci. 38 https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.fbio.2020.100788.
Wang, W., Li, M., Hassanien, R.H.E., Wang, Y., Yang, L., 2018. Thermal performance of
indirect forced convection solar dryer and kinetics analysis of mango. Appl. Therm.
Eng. 134, 310–321. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2018.01.115.
Yaldiz, O., Ertekin, C., Uzun, H.I., 2001. Mathematical modeling of thin layer solar
drying of sultana grapes. Energy 26, 457–465.