ABSTRACT
This chapter presents theories of agricultural crop drying, methods, different dryers, and recent development in drying technology. It discusses the methods used to dry grain or legumes, parboiled paddy, perishable crops, and fruits and vegetables. The drying of foods and crops is a major operation in the food industry, consuming large quantities of energy. Agricultural crops are important for the human diet, depending upon their nature, including vitamins, mineral, and fibers. One of the prime goals of food processing or preservation is to convert foods into stabilized products that can be stored for extended periods of time to reduce their post-harvest losses. Dehydration involves the simultaneous application of heat and removal of moisture from foods. Thermal drying is one of the most widely used methods of drying foods. Physical changes, such as structure, case hardening, collapse, pore formation, cracking, rehydration, caking, and stickiness can influence the quality of the final dried product.
