Modeling of microwave-convective drying of pistachios

The microwave-convective drying of two varieties of Iranian pistachios (Khany and Abasaliy) was performed in a laboratory scale microwave dryer, which was developed for this purpose. The drying rate curves show that first rapidly decreased and then very little reduction in moisture ratio observed with increase of drying time. A non-linear regression page model represents good agreement with experimental data with coefficient of determination and mean square of deviation as 0.9612 and 2.25 × 10−5 for Khany and 0.9997 and 4.28 × 10−5 for Abasaliy pistachios respectively.