Shrinkage and bulk density of pear fruit cubes as function of moisture content
2014
Nassiri, S. M. | Heydari, M. M.
The high moisture content of pears (about 80%) results in a high degree of shrinkage when drying takes place. This causes strong effects on fruit structure and quality. In the present study, we have studied the trend of change in shrinkage characteristics and bulk density of pears during the drying process in a cabinet dryer, as well as the final dried fruit. Drying experiments were conducted at inlet drying air temperatures of 40, 50 and 60°C and velocities of 0.5, 1 and 1.5 m/s. The results showed that when the moisture content of fruit decreases, the bulk density decreases but shrinkage is linearly increased. Also, a descending trend for shrinkage was observed when air temperature increased. Results of the analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that drying air temperature has a significant effect both on shrinkage characteristics and on the density of the dried fruit (p<0.05). It was observed that air velocity did not have a significant effect either on shrinkage characteristics or on the density of the dried fruit (p<0.05). When more spongy dried fruit is needed, drying with higher drying air velocity and temperatures is recommended.
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