An experimental study on the drying kinetics of quince

In this experimental study, drying kinetics of quince slices was investigated as a function of drying conditions. Experiments were conducted using air temperatures of 35, 45 and 55 °C, mean velocities of 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 m/s and, relative humidity values of 40, 55 and 70%. The experimental moisture data were fitted to some models (namely Henderson and Pabis, Lewis and two-term exponential models) available in the literature, and a good agreement was observed. In the ranges covered, the values of the effective moisture diffusivity, D eff were obtained between 0.65×10 −10 and 6.92×10 −10 m 2/s from the Fick's diffusion model. Using D eff, the value of activation energy ( E a) was determined assuming the Arrhenius-type temperature relationship, which varied from 33.83 to 41.52 kJ/mol. Finally, the sorption isotherms of the dried quince slices were determined.