Abstract:

In this study, mango slices were dried with using both microwave and infrared methods. The microwave and infrared power levels are determined between 90 – 800W and 75 – 104 W, respectively. The results of this study show that microwave and infrared power levels have an effect on drying kinetics. Five thin-layer drying models that were widely used in the literature were applied to the experimental data and the effective moisture diffusivity, activation energy and energy consumptions are also calculated. Midilli & Kucuk model was the best fits of experimental data for both microwave and infrared drying. The effective moisture diffusivity values were determined to be between 2.28 × 10-9 and 4.66 × 10-8 m2/s, and 5.07 × 10–10 - 1.27 × 10–9 m2/s for microwave and infrared drying, respectively. The values of activation energy for microwave and infrared drying were found as 39.135 and 4.482 kW/kg, respectively.

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