A model-based study of the dehydration kinetics of pretreated cassava flour

Abstract

The investigation of the dehydration kinetics of cassava tubers is crucial for understanding their role as raw materials and semi-finished products in the food industry. This knowledge is particularly important for achieving the desired attributes of cassava flour as a dry food product. The primary aims of this investigation were to examine the impact of different pretreatment methods applied to cassava pulp and identify the most suitable mathematical model for characterizing the drying kinetics of cassava flour. The cassava pulp was subjected to some pretreatments that included soaking and blanching. The application of a pretreatment soaking method using distilled water has shown the capability to decrease the duration of the drying process. The Wang and Singh model produced the highest coefficient of determination values ranging from 0.9535 to 0.9937 and the lowest sum square error values ranging from 0.0171 to 0.0213 across all processed cassava flour. In the cassava drying industry, knowing about the influence of soaking and blanching on the dehydration kinetics of the cassava flour can help set the proper process parameters.