Drying of guava and papaya: Impact of different drying methods

Abstract

Heat pump dryers (HPD) are known as high-energy-efficiency devices with low economic cost. As it is usually a closed system, the drying media can be substituted by inert gases. In this study, the effect of nitrogen and carbon dioxide on guava and papaya were investigated. Both drying kinetics and quality of these dried fruits resulting from the two methods were compared with normal air HPD, vacuum dryer, and freeze dryer. When using CO2, the effective diffusivity during the drying process was 44% higher in guava and 16.34% higher in papaya. There was less browning, faster rehydration, and more vitamin C retention in the final products. All these reveal the great potential of modified atmosphere heat pump dryer in the food drying industry. Copyright © 2006 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.