This study investigated thermal intermittence in apple drying, conducted in two stages, and its effect on energy consumption, drying kinetics, color and chlorogenic acid retention. The energy consumption was measured using an energy analyzer and calculated through an energy balance. The results indicate intermittent drying advantages, such as an improvement in effective diffusivities and drying rates, a consequent reduction in the total processing time (35%) and no impairment of color parameters and chlorogenic acid retention. The consumption measures showed 17% energy savings, which could have been higher if insulation was improved, and a theoretical energy savings of up to 35% was obtained from calculations in adiabatic conditions.
This study aimed at the modeling and simulation of intermittent drying to be applied to highly deformable moist foods such as apples. Mass transport modeling considered two stages: the first at 95, 85 and 75ºC air temperatures, and the second at 60ºC. The shrinkage was correlated with the sample moisture and included in the model that was solved by the finite differences method. The first stage temperatures affected the water diffusivity in the second stage. This model was suitable for simulating the water profiles during the two-stage intermittent drying, showing an efficient fitting to the experimental data. Keywords: thermal intermittence; coefficient diffusion effective; shrinkage; apple drying.
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