Determination Freeze Drying Characteristics of Ottoman Strawberries

Abstract

This study was performed to define the kinetic drying model and to define the effective diffusivity coefficient of the fruit, which is called ottoman strawberries in the literature. In the study, strawberries by the weight of 100 g and with a thickness of 5 mm were placed in the drying device, and the data were processed by observing the weight loss every two hours after being subjected to the drying process for 14 hours. 8 different kinetic drying models were applied to the acquired data using the MATLAB program. As a result of the application, the estimated standard errors (RMSE), chi-square (X2), regression coefficients (R2) were calculated, error analysis was performed, R2, X2, and RMSE values were found, as 9,998×10-1, 6,993×10-5 and 0.7242×10-2. According to these results, it was determined that the most suitable model is the Page model. Also, the effective diffusivity coefficients for ottoman strawberries were calculated as 2.73286 × 10-10 m2/s. It was confirmed that the calculated effective diffusivity value was within the reference range mentioned in the literature (10-12 m2/s – 10-8 m2/s) for food products.