Moisture and color change of the pear (Deveci) dried in the conveyor belt microwave dryer

In the present work, the effect of drying on properties of pear samples (Deveci) was analyzed by microwave energy drying at microwave powers of 2000W and 2800W. The drying was carried out using a microwave belt dryer at a rate of 0.175 m/min, 0.210 m/min and 0.245 m/min using pears with a slice thickness of 5 mm until the moisture content reduced at a rate of 10.1 ± 0.5 (w.b.). The energy consumed during drying was calculated, and the optimum results were obtained at 2800 W microwave power and at a drying rate of 0.175 m/min. From the color quality standpoint, the best results for pear slices were determined at a belt speed of 0.175 m/min at 2800W microwave power. Moreover, in estimating the removable moisture content, constant coefficients in Newton, Page, Henderson and Pabis, Geometric, Wang and Singh drying models were investigated by multiple regression method. As a result of the analyses it was determined that the model that predicts the best kinetics of drying in all experimental conditions is "Page" model. In addition, the energy consumed during drying and the color parameters of the dried product were also determined.