Microwave and hot air drying of garlic puree: drying kinetics and quality characteristics

In this study, the effect of hot air and microwave drying on drying kinetics and some quality characteristics such as water activity, color, optic index and volatile oil of garlic puree was investigated. Optic index representing browning of the garlic puree increased excessively with an increase in microwave power and hot air drying temperature. However, volatile oil content of the dried samples was decreased by increasing of temperature and microwave power. By increasing drying temperature (50, 60 and 70 A degrees C) and microwave power (180, 360 and 540 W), the drying time decreased from 8.5 h to 4 min. In order to determine the kinetic parameters, the experimental drying data were fitted to various semi-empirical models beside 2nd Fick's diffusion equation. Among them, the Page model gave a better fit for microwave-drying, while Logarithmic model gave a better fit for hot air drying. By increasing the microwave power and hot air drying temperature, the effective moisture diffusivity, D-e values ranged from 0.76x10(-8) to 2.85x10(-8) m(2)/s and from 2.21x10(-10) to 3.07x10(-10) m(2)/s, respectively. The activation energy was calculated as 20.90 kJ/mol for hot air drying and 21.96 W/g for microwave drying using an Arrhenius type equation.