Mathematical modelling of the drying kinetics of Hass avocado seeds

Abstract

The seed of Hass avocado (Persea Americana Mill.), which is about 13% of the total weight of the fresh fruit, is considered as an agricultural waste and discarded with no proper applications. The current research article presents a study focused on the mathematical modelling of the drying kinetics of Hass avocado seeds. The drying experiments of the non-pretreated and pretreated (sliced and crushed) Hass avocado seeds were performed in a heating furnace where the influence of five different air temperatures (313, 323, 333, 343, and 353K) on the rate of moisture evaporation was systematically studied. It was observed that the pretreatment process stimulated the drying progression of Hass avocado seeds. Four different semi-theoretical drying mathematical models were compared based on their coefficient of determination, reduced mean square error, root mean square error, mean bias error, and mean absolute error of the deviation to characterize the drying curves at previous mentioned conditions. The rise in the air temperature resulted in steeper decline in the curve shape of moisture ratio. The obtained scientific findings suggested that a newly proposed Avhad and Marchetti model provided superior simulation of the drying kinetics of Hass avocado seeds than the Lewis model, the Henderson and Pabis model, and the Page model over the experimental temperature range.