ABSTRACT
Drying is a method of preservation of food materials, where removal of water content present in the materials takes place. Convective drying using hot air is considered an efficient method commonly used in industrial applications. Appropriate design, operating cost, energy consumption, product quality, and drying time are the most significant factors that make the drying technology competitive in commercial sectors. A large number of research studies have been conducted to determine the effect of convective drying on these factors in order to make it more efficient. The intermittent drying technique is considered an effective way to decrease drying time and energy consumption by implementing an appropriate tempering period and temperature. Up to 38% reduction in drying time and 48% reduction in energy consumption over stationary convective drying could be achieved when making use of this technique. In addition, researchers found from their studies that intermittent convective drying is a viable solution to avoid hardening, darkening, shrinkage, and crack problems that occur very often in the dried product. In this chapter, the influence of periodical changes in drying conditions such as temperature, humidity, and tempering period on product quality, drying time, and energy consumption has been investigated and presented.
