Microwave/air and microwave finish drying of banana

Banana samples (4.3 +/- 0.177, 7.4 +/- 0.251 and 14 +/- 0.492 mm thick) were dried using the following drying regimes. convection (60 degrees C at 1.45 m/s); microwave (350, 490 and 700 W power) and convection followed by microwave (at 350 W, 4.3 mm thick sample) finish drying. The drying of banana slices took place in the falling rate drying period with convection drying taking the longest time. Higher drying rates were observed with the higher power level, Microwave finish drying reduced the convection drying time by about 64.3%. A physical model was employed to fit the experimental data and gave good fit for all experimental runs except microwave finish data. Microwave finish dried banana was lighter in colour and had the highest rehydration value. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.