FOOD SCIENCE AND BIOTECHNOLOGY, cilt.19, sa.6, ss.1449-1455, 2010 (SCI-Expanded)
In this study, the drying behaviors of green bell peppers were examined in convection dryer. The study was carried out for 3 drying temperatures (55, 65, and 75 degrees C) and for pre-treated samples with ethyl oleate solution against control samples. The pre-treated samples dried faster than the control ones. Drying time decreased with an increase of drying temperature. Rehydration ratio of the pre-treated samples was higher than control samples. Moisture transfer from green bell peppers was described by applying the Fick's diffusion model and the effective moisture diffusivity (D(eff)) was calculated. The D(eff) values for pre-treated and control samples varied between 0.705 and 2.618x10(-9) m(2)/sec. Activation energy values for moisture diffusion ranged from 41.67 and 52.99 kJ/mol. Drying data was fitted to 4 thin-layer drying models, namely, Lewis, Henderson and Pabis, logarithmic, and Page. The best model, which best represented the green bell peppers drying, was logarithmic.