Mohamad Djaeni

Carrageenan drying with dehumidified air: drying characteristics and product quality

Abstract Applying dehumidified air is considered as an option to retain quality in carrageenan drying. This work concerns the effects of operational temperature, air velocity, and carrageenan thickness on the progress of drying and product quality when using dehumidified air. Final product quality and progress of drying were measured by experiments, and a two dimensional model was developed to analyze progress of drying for the different operational conditions. The experimental and modeling results showed that air dehumidification with zeolite reduces the drying time the most at low temperatures. Under these conditions the carrageenan qualities whiteness and gel strength are the least affected by the exposure to the drying temperature. The drying time is the shortest at 120°C, but at this temperature the carrageenan quality degrades the most and is not be improved by air dehumidification. Moreover, the quality is improved by increasing the air velocity and by drying thin carrageenan sheets.

Moisture Transport Mechanism and Drying Kinetic of Fresh Harvested Red Onion Bulbs under Dehumidified Air

Abstract Drying plays an important role in post-harvest handling of onion for prolonging storage time. This research focuses on the drying studies of red onion bulbs using dehumidified air. The works were carried out by observing the microscopic structure of red onion bulbs layer and followed by developing mass transfer model for moisture diffusion during drying. Moisture diffusivity was estimated from drying experiments conducted at various temperatures (40, 50 and 60 °C) using the unsteady state solutions of Fick’s second law model. The diffusivity values were used to predict the drying kinetics as well as effective drying time for different air relative humidity. Results showed that combination of low relative humidity and low drying temperature significantly improved drying rate and reduced drying time.

Effect of blanching-brine-calcium pretreatment on red chili pepper drying

The red chili pepper drying aims to remove moisture content up to 11% (wet basis). Dried chilies can be easy to distribute and have longer shelf life because it can be protected from decaying by enzymatic and microbial activity. Pretreatment in drying is one of alternative to decrease drying time. This present study was carried out on effect of blanchingbrine-calcium pretreatment toward drying kinetics in chili. In this case, chili provided from the local market was pretreated with blanching, dehydrated osmotic with brine, calcium dipping pretreatment and combination of them. The chili products were dried in tray dryer at 40C, 50C, 60C and 70C for 8 hours afterward. Result showed that Lewis model is suitable drying model. The blanching-brine-calcium pretreated chili can be well and faster dried with activation energy was 36.4290 kJ/mol and k0 was 7.8712. At 70C, red chili pepper needed 6.467 hours to dry. Thus, the blanching-brine-calcium pretreatment can be potential to reduce the energy cost for drying as well as retain the quality.

Drying Rate and Product Quality Evaluation of Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) Calyces Extract Dried with Foaming Agent under Different Temperatures

The utilisation of roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) calyx as a source of anthocyanins has been explored through intensive investigations. Due to its perishable property, the transformation of roselle calyces into dried extract without reducing their quality is highly challenging. The aim of this work was to study the effect of air temperatures and relative humidity on the kinetics and product quality during drying of roselle extract foamed with ovalbumin and glycerol monostearate (GMS). The results showed that foam mat drying increased the drying rate significantly and retained the antioxidant activity and colour of roselle calyces extract. Shorter drying time was achieved when higher air temperature and/or lower relative humidity was used. Foam mat drying produced dried brilliant red roselle calyces extract with better antioxidant activity and colour qualities when compared with nonfoam mat drying. The results showed the potential for retaining the roselle calyces extract quality under suggested drying conditions.

Quality evaluation of onion bulbs during low temperature drying

A drying technology must be designed carefully by evaluating the foods’ final quality properties as a dried material. Thermal processing should be operated with the minimum chance of substantial flavour, taste, color and nutrient loss. The main objective of this research was to evaluate the quality parameters of quercetin content, color, non-enzymatic browning and antioxidant activity. The experiments showed that heating at different temperatures for several drying times resulted in a percentage of quercetin being generally constant. The quercetin content maintained at the value of ±1.2 % (dry basis). The color of onion bulbs was measured by CIE standard illuminant C. The red color (a*) of the outer layer of onion bulbs changed significantly when the drying temperature was increased. However the value of L* and b* changed in a fluctuating way based on the temperature. The change of onion colors was influenced by temperature and moisture content during the drying process. The higher the temperature, the hi...

The effect of air temperature on the sappan wood extract drying

The sappan wood extract contain natural colour called brazilin that can be used as a food colouring and antioxidant. The product is commonly found as a dry extract powder for consummer convenience. The spray dryer with air dehumidification can be an option to retain the colour and antioxidant agent. This paper discusses the effect of air temperature on sappan wood extract drying that was mixed with maltodextrin. As responses, the particle size, final moisture content, and extract solubility degradation were observed. In all cases, the process conducted in temperature ranging 90 – 110°C can retain the brazilin quality as seen in solubility and particle size. In addition, the sappan wood extract can be fully dried with moisture content below 2%. Moreover, with the increase of air temperature, the particle size of dry extract can be smaller.

Multi-layer onion drying: Study of mass and heat transfer mechanism and quality evaluation

Drying is one of methods to prolong storage life of onion. The outer layer of onion has kept dry around 12% of moisture content or below to retain the freshness of its inside part. The model of multi layers onion drying is very important to predict the water and temperature transport during dying process. In this case, one dimensional partial equation was used for predicting moisture distribution in the onion layer. To support the study, the onion drying was performed at various temperatures ranging of 40-50 °C. Then the attribute quality (quercetin content) of dried onion was analysed. The experimental data was to validate the value of water diffusivity and mass transfer coefficient used in the model. Results showed that the model can predict moisture distribution in each layer of onion. Moreover, based on the average moisture content during the drying, the model result closed to experiment data with accuracy of R2 0.970-0.999. The model was useful to estimate the drying time of outer layer to the desire...