摘要：Thin-layer convective drying of plantain banana was performed at four different temperatures from 50 to 80 °C, with slice thicknesses from 2 to 8 mm. The drying curves, fitted to seven different semi-empirical mathematical models, were successfully used to fit experimental data (
R
2
0.72–0.99). The diffusion approach had better applicability in envisaging the moisture ratio at any time during the drying process, with the maximum correlation value (
R
2
0.99) and minimum value of
x
2
(2
.5
×
10
−
5
to
1.5
×
10
−
4
)
and RMSE (5.0
×
10
−
3
to
1.2
×
10
−
2
)
. The
D
e
f
f
,
h
m
, and
E
a
values were calculated on the basis of the experimental data, and overall ranged from
1.11
×
10
−
10
to
1.79
×
10
−
9
m
2 s
−1,
3.17
×
10
−
8
to 2.20
×
10
−
7
m s
−1 and 13.70 to 18.23 kJ mol
−1, respectively. The process energy consumption varied from 23.3 to 121.4 kWh kg
−1. The correlation study showed that the drying temperature had a close correlation with
h
m
value and sample hardness. A significant (
p < 0.05) increase in hardness of dried plantain banana was observed at 80 °C compared to the other temperatures. Additionally, the sample hardness and process energy consumption were more positively correlated with the thickness of the samples.
关键词：drying kinetics;heat and mass transfer coefficient;activation energy;process energy consumption;hardness
