The Characterization and Modeling Kinetics for Drying of Taraxacum Officinale Leaves in a Thin Layer with a Convective Solar Dryer

Abstract

Food contamination is due to the presence of certain harmful chemicals and microorganisms in food; this issue can cause much illness such as food poisoning. The water that the food contains is one of the major causes of this problem, the solution must include a shelf life-prolonging food process that can only be obtained by both reducing water and microbiological contamination, thus the need for the solar dryer. This paper tackles the impact of certain drying parameters on the water loss of Taraxacum Officinale’s leaves. The drying kinetics in different temperatures of this plant was also studied in a convection solar dryer; the result was represented in several mathematical models to determinate the most suitable model that describe the best drying characteristic curve.