Design of a solar dryer for small-farm level use and studying fig quality

Abstract

Background. In the mountain areas of south-east Morocco, farmers are engaged in the solar drying of figs using traditional processes. However, this practice leads to losses in quality. This study aims to improve this drying method by designing and studying the performance of a natural convection solar dryer and the quality of fresh and dried figs. Materials and methods. An indirect solar dryer was designed and its performance was studied. The TSS content, moisture, firmness and morphological parameters of fresh and dried figs were determinated. Results. The average difference (inside/outside) in the temperature of the dryer is +8.3°C. This will allow a decrease in the mean drying duration from 10 days (traditional drying) to 4 days. This duration is significantly correlated with air humidity (R 2 = 0.84) and temperature (R 2 = 0.63). The relationship between the degree of dehydration (%) and time follows a polynomial model with a determination coefficient of 0.98. Fig-drying yield is 38.7% and dried figs have a high (TSS) content with 63.7% and a firmness of 6.03 kg/cm 2 . The water content was approximately 25.6%. Conclusion. The solar dryer with natural convection designed in this study can be an alternative to traditional drying practised by small farmers in the mountainous regions of Errachidia. . (2018). Design of a solar dryer for small-farm level use and studying fig quality. Acta Sci. Pol. Technol. Aliment., 17(4), 359-365. http://dx.doi.org/10.17306/J.AFS.2018.0599 360 www.food.actapol.net/and use of renewable and free energy (sun), produces good-quality dried products compared to traditional solar drying and enables the duration of solar drying to be reduced.

Myrtle Leaves (<i>Myrtus communis</i> L) and Olive Leaves (<i>Olea europaea</i>): Effect of Drying by Fluidization and Solar Methods on Key Bioactive Compounds Contents

“…Many studies show that the phenolic content is affected by the drying method (Lachowicz et al, 2019;Liu et al, 2020;Tan et al, 2021;Yap et al, 2020). This was illustrated also by Noutfia et al, (Noutfia et al, 2018;Noutfia et al, 2021) in his studies about fig drying, where the solar method has shown a good quality preservation.…”

Exergy, drying kinetics, and performance assessment of Solanum lycopersicum (tomatoes) drying in an indirect type domestic hybrid solar dryer ( ITDHSD ) system

“…Emerging nations are severely facing the crisis as a substantial part of consumable foodstuff is lost due to mutilation by pests and careless handling (Jain et al, 2019; Prakash et al, 2016). Post‐harvest drying is a crucial food processing activity (Noutfia et al, 2018). Excess moisture is removed from food grain using drying process, which helps to preserve the food grains (Sharma et al, 2018).…”

“…Open sun drying is dependent on weather and has other disadvantages like deterioration of food due to the development of microorganisms, birds, animals, insects etc. Solar dryers help to solve these problems and are more efficient, uniform, and economical (Noutfia et al, 2018, 2021; Sharma et al, 2021).…”

“…Tomato slices were dried at an ambient temperature of 17.6°C, and the final moisture content of 22% was achieved in 30 h. Abideen et al (2019) fabricated an indirect solar dryer for tomato drying. Noutfia et al (2018) developed and dried fig in an indirect solar dryer utilized for small farms. Shrivastava et al (2017) examined drying kinetics of fenugreek in an indirect solar dryer without varying mass flow rate.…”

Indirect and mixed‐mode solar drying and its effect on physicochemical properties of raw and cooked chicken breast meat

“…Therefore, the development of energy‐efficient methods is essential to solving this problem (Castillo‐Téllez et al, 2020). Accordingly, solar drying has largely developed in arid and semiarid areas with optimal climatic conditions (Noutfia et al, 2018). As a result, it has become one of the most attractive and promising solar heat applications for industrial processes as an alternative.…”