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Chapter
Drying of Foods: Part I. Tray Drying
DOI link for Drying of Foods: Part I. Tray Drying
Drying of Foods: Part I. Tray Drying book
Drying of Foods: Part I. Tray Drying
DOI link for Drying of Foods: Part I. Tray Drying
Drying of Foods: Part I. Tray Drying book
ABSTRACT
The principle of drying is to decrease water availability for enzymatic reactions and microbial growth by removing free water from food products. This chapter examines three dehydration techniques: tray, spray, and freeze drying and discusses the process of atmospheric drying in a tray or shelf dryer. There are major industrial methods of removing moisture from solid materials: air drying, contact drying, and vacuum drying. The chapter describes an experiment which is a batch-type operation in which food materials are evenly spaced on metal trays and placed in a drying chamber. Water loss in the product is monitored and recorded as weight loss in a digital balance weighing the trays connected to a data logger system. The minimum moisture the product can reach when exposed to a specific external medium after a theoretical infinite time is called the equilibrium moisture content.