Drying Kinetics of Fig (Ficus carica L) under Various Drying Methods

A study was conducted to evaluate different drying methods for pre-treated (2% KMS) fig fruits. Figure fruit was dried under different drying methods (sun drying, solar cabinet dryer, and microwave oven and cabinet tray dryer) to elicit their effect on drying rate, drying time, biochemical properties and sensory attributes. Microwave oven drying showed highest drying rate, and took less time to reach required final moisture content. Higher drying rate was observed in the pre-treated samples as compared to the untreated samples under all drying methods. The drying time required for cut-fig fruits was nearly half of that for whole fig fruits. The sulphited samples showed higher biochemical properties irrespective of drying methods. The samples dried in microwave oven, solar cabinet and sun drying had higher values of biochemical properties than the cabinet tray dried samples. Acceptable sensory quality was obtained in products dried with microwave oven, solar cabinet and sun drying. Among five thin-layer drying models (Newton, Page, Modified Page, Logarithmic and Henderson and Pabis) for evaluating the drying kinematics, the Logarithmic, model yielded the best fit (R² = 0.9998, Ξ² = 0.000017).