Potato Shrinkage During Hot Air Drying
Shrinkage is one of the most important physical changes that occur during the dehydration of foods. In this work, the effect of the temperature (35, 40, 50, 60 and 70 °C) and air velocity (7, 8, 9 and 10 m/s) on bulk volumetric shrinkage was investigated. Volume changes were evaluated by image analysis. It was found that neither temperature nor air velocity had any significant effects on bulk shrinkage in this system. The bulk shrinkage of the potato cubes was well correlated with the moisture content of the sample during drying (R2 = 97.28). Volume varied linearly with the moisture content changes under the studied conditions. The volume of lost water and the decrease in volume of the samples during dehydration were similar.