Heated Air Drying of Some Tropical Perishable Crops: As a Means of Food Preservation

There is an increase need to develop efficient crop and food processing machines especially for tropical perishable crops. Drying is a method of food preservation that has been used in olden days and is still being used today. The physical laws governing drying remain the same, even though the machinery to accomplish it has improved considerably over the years. Improper drying may lead to irreversible damage to product quality, thereby putting the crop and food processor at a loss. Considering this, efficient design of drying equipment becomes important. Because of the spectrum of duties required, there is a great variety of dryers available. The correct choice depends on the properties of the agricultural material and the desired characteristics of the final product. This book is a major contributor to the design of crop and food processing machines; and provides important and useful tools for the agricultural and food engineers to apply when designing, fabricating and evaluating the performance of an electric dryer for agricultural crops. It reviews the types of dryers, various methods of drying and classification of drying; and deals extensively with heated air drying method.