Author(s):

Birendra Kr. Mehta, Surabhi, Amrit Kr. Jha, Maya Kumari and Sanjay Kr. Jain

Abstract: The drying characteristics of osmosed mushroom slices were investigated in an experimental axial flow dryer at various air temperatures of 45, 55, 65, 75 and 85^oC and velocity of air such as 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 m/s. The entire drying process took place in the falling rate period. Effective moisture diffusivity (D_eff) was determined for examined temperatures and velocities using Fick’s second law of diffusion adapted to slab geometry. The calculated effective moisture diffusivity of osmo-convectively dried mushroom samples varied considerably with moisture content and air drying temperature from 1.39 x 10^-9 to 4.67 x 10^-9, 1.44 x 10^-9 to 4.81 x 10^-9 and 1.57 x 10^-9 to 4.92 x 10^-9 m²/s for air velocity of 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 m/s, respectively. Activation energy was also calculated and found to be 26.69, 27.91 and 29.26 kJ/mol for 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 m/s air velocity respectively.

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