Application of basic drying theory to determine drying mass constants of selected seafoods
1 Department of Agricultural and Food Engineering, University of Uyo, Nigeria.
2 Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Uyo, Nigeria.
Research Article
Global Journal of Engineering and Technology Advances, 2021, 07(01), 137-143.
Article DOI: 10.30574/gjeta.2021.7.1.0062
Publication history:
Received on 14 March 2021; revised on 18 April 2021; accepted on 21 April 2021
Abstract:
The drying of seafood could ensure increase in life span, minimization of storage space, ease of transportation, etc of the product. It is therefore, necessary to dry and know when to stop drying at an appropriate moisture content that would minimize associated challenges in promoting food security. In this study, selected sea foods, such as prawn and oyster were obtained and then dried to determine their drying mass constants using model equation developed based on basic drying principle. The value of the constants obtained would provide data bank to facilitates prediction of mass of the drying material at given time that would correspond to any desired moisture content, provided the initial moisture content of the material is known. The plots of moisture content against drying time, drying rate against drying time and moisture content versus 
were carried out. It was observed that increase in size of the drying material increased the drying time. Moreover, the drying rate curve resembles a typical drying curve. Hence, the experimental values obtained are reliable. Technical analysis showed that the drying mass constants for prawn and oyster are 0.2950 ± 0.0119 and 0.2453 ± 0.0476, respectively.
were carried out. It was observed that increase in size of the drying material increased the drying time. Moreover, the drying rate curve resembles a typical drying curve. Hence, the experimental values obtained are reliable. Technical analysis showed that the drying mass constants for prawn and oyster are 0.2950 ± 0.0119 and 0.2453 ± 0.0476, respectively.Keywords:
Drying mass constant; Moisture content; Model equation; Seafood.
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