Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
JOURNAL OF FOOD PROCESS ENGINEERING, cilt.33, sa.2, ss.213-233, 2010 (SCI-Expanded)
Nettle leaves (Urtica dioica L.), with a moisture of 4.41 (dry basis [d.b .]), were dried using three drying methods: microwave, air and combined microwave-air. Drying continued until leaf moisture decreased to 0.1 (d.b .). Three different microwave output powers, 160, 350 and 500 W, were used in the microwave-drying. Drying treatments in air-drying were 50, 75 and 100C, and 1 m/s fan speed. The combination drying, in which microwave- and air-drying were applied together, was nine different combination levels. Drying periods lasted for 6-14, 40-120 and 2-12 min for microwave-, air- and combined microwave-air-drying, respectively, depending on the drying level. Energy consumption was 0.07-0.10, 0.25-0.34 and 0.08-0.16 kWh, respectively. In this study, measured values were compared with the predicted values obtained from Page's semiempirical equation. Optimum drying period, color and energy consumption were obtained when microwave- and air-drying were applied simultaneously and the optimum combination level was 500-W microwave applications at 50C.