EFFECT OF PRE-TREATMENT an‎d AIR TEMPERATURE ON DRYING TIME OF CHERRY TOMATO

The effects of pre-treatment and air temperature with on drying and rehydration characteristics of cherry tomato slices were studied. Drying experiments are carried out with the air temperature of 55, 65, and 75°C. Drying time decreased with pre-treatment, and it also decreased considerably with increase in air temperature. The results indicated that the cherry tomatoes which were pre-treated with potassium solution were explored within the shortest time. Furthermore, superior rehydration was observed the samples which were pre-treated with potassium solution. The moisture effective diffusivity calculated from the second Fick’s law of diffusion ranged from 2.26 to 6.22⨯10-9 m2 /s over the temperature range studied. Activation energy was estimated by an Arrhenius type equation and the activation energy values varied from 26.51 to 32.79 kJ/mol.