Physical parameters kinetics during the drying process of quarters and halves cut tomatoes
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Kuupäev
2023
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Ajakirja pealkiri
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Kirjastaja
Estonian University of Life Sciences
Abstrakt
Tomato drying is a time-consuming industrial process. Moreover, the prolonged use
of high temperatures decreases the quality of tomatoes and increases the environmental footprint
of the process. In most cases, drying is performed on halved tomatoes. Alternatively, the use of
quarter tomatoes could guarantee a drying times reduction without compromising the final
product quality. This work aimed at modelling changes in physical characteristics of half and
quarter tomatoes. The drying tests were conducted at 50 and 60 °C. The kinetics of weight loss,
colour change, and volume reduction were determined. Colour change was monitored through
image analysis, while volume reduction using RGB-D reconstructions. Based on the results, an
increase in the drying temperature and the use of quartered tomatoes allow a significant reduction
in drying times. The loss of water kinetic allowed the determination of critical moisture. Between
initial and critical moisture, loss of water occurred at constant rate (zero-order kinetic), while
after that the rate decreased exponentially (first-order kinetic). The colour kinetics showed an
initial constant rate followed by a linear increase for brown pixels. The variation of red pixels did
not have a clear trend. Increasing the temperature there was no significant reduction in colour
quality while quarter tomatoes showed a greater loss of redness than halved tomatoes.
Furthermore, the temperature increase does not affect the volume reduction of the tomatoes.
Increasing the temperature and the use of quartered tomatoes are simple solutions to reduce
drying times. However, quartered tomatoes are less visually appreciable than halved tomatoes.
Kirjeldus
Received: March 5th, 2023 ; Accepted: August 5th ; Published: September 18th, 2023 ; Correspondence: lorenzo.guerrini@unipd.it
Märksõnad
modelling, artificial vision, sustainability, food quality, process optimization, articles