Microwave Drying Characteristics and Drying Quality Analysis of Corn in China

Abstract

To identify the microwave drying characteristics of corn, microwave drying tests were conducted on corn. By taking the moisture content, drying rate, and drying temperature as indices, this research revealed the effects of different microwave powers and loads on the microwave drying characteristics of corn. Moreover, energy consumption and quality of dried corn were analysed under different drying conditions. The results demonstrate that microwave drying has significant energy-saving effects. The energy consumption by microwave drying is less than 0.3 times that used by electrothermal drying under the same load. Both microwave power and load exert significant influences on drying characteristics. Higher microwave power results in a greater average drying rate, wherein shorter periods of time are required to reach the maximum drying rate and higher temperatures of the corn. However, the load shows the opposite tendency. The smaller the load, the higher the temperature of the corn in the early stage of drying. However, as drying continues, the temperature curve changes significantly, and the temperature rises with the increase in load in the later stage of drying. In consideration of energy consumption and dried quality, the load of corn should be increased as appropriate, and the microwave intensity should be limited to no higher than 0.7 W/g in the experiment.

Far‐infrared drying influence on machine learning algorithms in improving corn drying process with graphene irradiation heating plates

“…According to Figure4a, the maximum moisture ratio was revealed during the drying of ZD88 at 35 C, followed by 45 and 55 C. While drying RP909, a comparable pattern was observed in Figure4bindicating the moisture removal rate was faster at higher drying air temperatures than at lower ones. This finding was consistent with(Liu et al, 2021;Nayi et al, 2023), where a high moisture removal rate was observed due to a large temperature difference at the boundary of the product, leading to enhanced heat and mass transfer processes at 55 C. Conversely, a reduced drying rate was associated with low temperatures drying at 35 and 45 C. Moreover, Figure5a,b shows increasing the infrared temperature accelerates the rate of drying, enhancing evaporation, and promoting more significant mass and heat transfer rates. However, when the moisture content is low, reducing the drying temperature helps maintain a consistent evaporation rate throughout the drying process(Li et al, 2021).…”

Thermoultrasound and microwave-assisted freeze-thaw pretreatments for improving infrared drying and quality characteristics of red dragon fruit slices

“…1 c). Thus, the conjunctional effect of moisture loss and higher core temperature of the samples resulted in the creation of micro-fissures and subsequent reductions in drying time during IRD, particularly for MW5S [16] . Besides, studies have shown that rapid thawing could impede the structural collapse of samples for minimizing drip loss.…”

“…Despite the promising results reported by these studies, some quality degradation linked with excessive structural deformations and resultant leaching loss has been associated with the use of FT pretreatments [6] . For example, FT pretreatment was reported to cause damage to the cell wall, leading to increased shrinkage, enzymatic browning, undesirable changes in colour, and losses in phytochemicals during infrared-hot air drying of lotus and microwave drying of Platycodon grandiflorum [16] , [36] . Nevertheless, improved thawing approaches targeting reducing the thawing time for preserving cell structures and components can reduce the negative effects of FT pretreatments on food quality during drying [6] .…”

Effect of different drying technologies on the characteristics and quality of lemon slices

“…The lemon slices were placed on a tray in an experimental MVD chamber (JDH‐3GZ, Guangzhou Yongze Microwave Energy Equipment Co., Ltd., Guangzhou, China) and dried at 1 kW (Liu, H. J., et al., 2021). The weight of the lemon slices was measured and recorded every 2 min until the moisture content was below 12%.…”