A STUDY OF TEMPERATURE AND SAMPLE DIMENSION IN THE DRYING OF POTATOES

It is common knowledge that sample size and drying temperature are two of the most important factors affecting the drying rate and quality of food. However, what is less commonly known are how these two factors interact relative to each other and their effects on the drying behaviour of potato. These effects were evaluated under controlled drying conditions using a thermogravimetric analyser. The least-squares method was used to fit a model to the experimental data and the response variables (slope of the first drying stage, transition moisture content and slope of the second drying stage) were determined systematically. Central composite design was applied for response surface modelling of the factors and regression methodology was used to analyse the results. The results showed that both temperature and sample dimension have significant (P=0.01) effect on drying behaviour of potato. Sample dimension significantly affected the transition moisture content, whilst both temperature and sample dimension significantly affected the slopes of the first and second stage of drying.