Study of effect of cutting parameters on modeling the Carrot Thin-Layer Drying

Drying process of fruit and vegetable depend on temperature, air flow and internal tissue. Cutting carrot at different direction cause the slice with different cell tissue that affect the drying kinetic. In this research the effect of three blade (flat, wavy, serrate edge), three direction of slicing (horizontal, diagonal and vertical) and thickness in the two sizes (3 and 6 mm) on the drying modeling have been studied. The experiments were done with 3 replicate and the responses fitted to 7 models. The results showed that the logarithmic model is the best model for all treatments with R2≥0.98¡ RMSE≤ 0.04 and SSE≤0.019. Also, the cutting variables does not affect the drying model. Moreover, the highest of the moisture diffusion coefficient of carrot was obtained about 5.07 m2/s for slice thickness of 6mm with wavy blade at diagonal direction and 2.55 m2/s for slice thickness of 3mm with wavy blade at horizontal direction. Therefore, these conditions are suggested for the drying of carrot slices