Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
JOURNAL OF FOOD PROCESS ENGINEERING, cilt.40, sa.3, 2017 (SCI-Expanded)
The scope of this study was to investigate the effects of initial moisture content, different drying methods and different microwave power on quality and dielectric properties of banana (Musa cavendishii) and kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa) and it was also aimed to examine the correlation between dielectric properties and microwave and microwave-infrared combination (MW-IR) drying characteristics of banana and kiwifruit. Samples with different initial moisture contents were dried by using different microwave powers (180 W, 270 W, 360 W for banana) and (350 W, 420 W, 490 W for kiwifruit). For combination drying of banana, the application parameters were adjusted as 360 W for microwave power and 600 W for upper and lower halogen lamps (600 W) and for kiwifruit those were adjusted as 420 W and 600 W, respectively. The drying characteristics investigated throughout the study were moisture content and color values (L*, a*, and b*). Dielectric properties of fresh and processed samples were also detected. It was observed that an increase in microwave power resulted in an increase in rate of drying and a decrease in processing time. It was also found that combining infrared with microwaves resulted in higher rates of moisture loss from the product. Dielectric properties of banana and kiwifruit samples decreased with increasing microwave power and initial moisture content. When microwave and combination dried samples were compared with conventionally dried ones, products with lower final moisture content and higher quality could be produced with a time saving of approximately 98%.