ABSTRACT
Mathematical modelling is the essential support for experiments in order to understand the underlying physics, optimize processes, improve perceived quality or prolong shelf-life of foods. Eggplants represent a good example of this since they are common ingredients in food preparations, have a complex structure and high water activity, the last being responsible for the limited shelf-life. Food processes often deal with the motion of fluids or/and physicochemical transformations in a macroscopic volume of matter. The empirical models are very common in food engineering due to the complexity of the processes. Food processes often deal with the motion of fluids or/and physicochemical transformations in a macroscopic volume of matter. Air-drying is often followed by physical and chemical modifications of food materials which can deeply modify the mass transport mechanisms. Equation only depends on the shrinkage velocity of the food matrix calculated at the boundary and, in this sense, it is very general.
