ABSTRACT
During the past decade, infrared (IR) radiation has received more attention as a thermal energy source (or as an auxiliary energy source) for drying of many foods and agricultural materials. When IR radiation is applied to a drying process, the energy requirement of the process is generally reduced. This is because energy in the form of electromagnetic waves is absorbed directly by the product without loss to the environment, leading to considerable energy savings (Ginzburg, 1969; Sandu, 1986; Ratti and Mujumdar, 1995; Abe and Afzal, 1997, 1998; Afzal et al., 1999; Mongpraneet et al., 2002b). The dried product quality is also generally improved when compared with the quality of air-dried products. For example, lower losses of vitamin C, volatile components, and flavors (Niibori and Motoi, 1988), lower loss of β-carotene (Mogi et al., 1990), and better color retention (Itoh, 1986) have been reported.
