Study of the drying kinetics of green bell pepper and chemical characterization

The present work aimed, on one hand, the study of the drying of green peppers, in terms of drying kinetics evaluated at 30 degrees C, 40 degrees C, 50 degrees C, 60 degrees C and 70 degrees C, having the experimental data been fitted to different empirical kinetic models from literature. This kinetic study was then complemented with the modelling in terms of Fick's diffusion equation. On the other hand, the chemical characterization in fresh and after drying at the lowest and highest temperatures was analysed, for evaluation of the effect of drying and drying temperature on the chemical composition of the product. In this way, the analyses made were: moisture content, sugar content, proteins, ash, fat, fibre and acidity. From the results obtained, it was concluded that the empirical models that best describe the dehydration kinetics were the Page and Newton models. From the experimental data was possible to estimate the diffusivities, which range between 9.0 x 1 0(-10) at 30 degrees C and 8.0 x 10(-9) m(2) s(-1) at 70 degrees C. Moreover, it was verified that drying influences the chemical composition of the peppers, but, conversely, the influence of the drying temperature was not very significant.