Research Information System
Bulgarian Chemical Communications, vol.57, no.3, pp.235-244, 2025 (Scopus)
This study investigates the infrared drying of aronia berries (Aronia Melanocarpa) and evaluates the effect of ultrasonic pretreatment on drying efficiency. Aronia berries are considered important functional foods due to their high antioxidant content and nutritional value. However, their short harvest season and limited shelf life hinder their commercialization. To address this, ultrasonic pretreatment was applied prior to drying to enhance process efficiency. Experiments were conducted at drying temperatures of 60°C, 70°C, and 80°C. For each temperature, aronia berries were subjected to ultrasonic pretreatment for 1, 3, 5, 10, 15, and 20 min before drying. Drying durations of pretreated samples were compared to those of untreated samples. Drying time and moisture content were measured, and the drying kinetics were analyzed. Kinetic parameters, including effective moisture diffusivity and activation energy were calculated, and the drying behavior was modeled using 14 commonly applied drying models used in the literature. The results demonstrated that ultrasonic pretreatment significantly enhanced drying performance, up to 10 min of pretreatment. The shortest drying time (120 min), highest effective moisture diffusivity (1.20×10-9 m2/s) and highest activation energy (5137.6 J/mol) were obtained at 80°C infrared drying with 10 min of ultrasonic pretreatment.