Microwave Assisted Fluidized Bed Drying of Beetroot (Beta vulgaris L.)

摘要

In the present work, an attempt has been made to study the effect of inlet air temperature and inlet air velocity on the drying characteristics of (Beta vulgaris L.) pieces in microwave assisted fluidized bed drying (MAFBD) system. The results were compared with samples of beetroot dried in a fluidized bed dryer (FBD) at the same combination of temperatures and air velocities. The inlet air temperatures selected were 60°C, 67.50°C and 75°C and inlet air velocities were 9 m/s, 10.50 m/s and 12 m/s. Moisture content and outlet air humidity was measured at 5 minutes interval. The MAFBD method offered two to three times reduction in drying time as compared to the FBD method. It was also observed that the beetroot samples obtained from the MAFBD system had lower final moisture content than those obtained from the FBD system.