The drying quality and energy consumption of Chinese wolfberry fruits under electrohydrodynamic system

摘要

The aim of this work is to study the drying quality of Chinese wolfberry fruits and the effect of energy consumption on the drying process using electrohydrodynamic (EHD) drying. The drying rate, nutrient content and energy consumption of the Chinese wolfberry fruits which were dried in an EHD system at two levels of electric field intensity and five levels of the discharge gap were investigated and compared against oven drying and the control. The results showed that the drying rate have no significant difference at different voltages and discharge gaps under same electric field intensity. Experimentally, the polysaccharides content in the EHD system was improved when compared to oven drying. The specific energy consumption decreased with the decrease of the discharge gap and voltage. The drying rate can be enhanced and the energy consumption was greatly reduced at lower discharge gap and voltage in EHD system. The effect of degree of cell damage is smaller during EHD drying. Therefore, this work provides guidance for optimizing and improving the drying efficiency of Chinese wolfberry fruits in an EHD system.