Popescu Mihaela, Iancu Petrica, Plesu Valentin, Bildea Costin Sorin, Manolache Fulvia Ancuta
Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, National University of Science and Technology POLITEHNICA Bucharest, 1 Gh. Polizu Street, Building A, Room A056, 011061 Bucharest, Romania.
National Research and Development Institute for Food Bioresources, 014192 Bucharest, Romania.
Foods. 2023 Oct 23;12(20):3883. doi: 10.3390/foods12203883.
Tomato drying implies high energy consumption due to the high moisture content, and limiting drying temperatures is necessary to avoid carotenoid degradation. To explain the mechanism of moisture transport through the material and to scale up the drying process, drying experiments are needed and supported by mathematical modeling. For the Rila tomato peel drying process, ten thin-layer mathematical models were formulated based on experimental data for six temperatures (50-75 °C) and validated by statistical analysis. Considering the slab geometry of the peels sample and Fick's second law of diffusion model, the calculated effective moisture diffusivity coefficient values D varied between 1.01 × 10-1.53 × 10 m/s with higher than 0.9432. From the semi-theoretical models, Two-term presents the best prediction of moisture ratio with the highest and lowest χ and RMSE values. Using the experimental data on extract quality (carotenoid content), two degradation models were formulated. Increasing the drying temperature from 50 °C to 110 °C, a degradation of 94% for lycopene and 83% for β-carotene were predicted. From the energy analysis, a specific energy consumption of 56.60 ± 0.51 kWh is necessary for hot-air drying of 1 kg of Rila tomato peel at 50 °C to avoid carotenoid degradation.
由于番茄含水量高，其干燥过程能耗大，因此必须限制干燥温度以避免类胡萝卜素降解。为了解释水分在物料中的传输机制并扩大干燥过程规模，需要进行干燥实验并辅以数学建模。对于里拉番茄皮的干燥过程，基于六个温度（50 - 75°C）下的实验数据建立了十个薄层数学模型，并通过统计分析进行了验证。考虑到番茄皮样品的平板几何形状和菲克第二扩散定律模型，计算得到的有效水分扩散系数值D在1.01×10 - 1.53×10 m²/s之间，相关系数高于0.9432。从半理论模型来看，双项模型对水分比的预测最佳，其χ和RMSE值最高和最低。利用提取物质量（类胡萝卜素含量）的实验数据，建立了两个降解模型。将干燥温度从50°C提高到110°C，预测番茄红素降解94%，β - 胡萝卜素降解83%。通过能量分析，在50°C下对1千克里拉番茄皮进行热风干燥，为避免类胡萝卜素降解，特定能耗为56.60±0.51千瓦时。
