Study and Analysis of the Drying Kinetics of Jalapeño Pepper in a Convective Dryer

Abstract

The high moisture content in jalapeno peppers (Capsicum annuum L.) can cause the growth and reproduction of microorganisms, making processing and long-term storage difficult. The objective of the research is to evaluate the kinetics of jalapeño pepper drying in a convective dryer. for this reason, the drying of the jalapeño pepper was carried out in a dryer with hot air at temperatures of 40, 50 and 70°C; obtaining the drying kinetic curves, the drying time that was 18, 31 and 41 respectively; the effective diffusivity was 2.924E-10m2.s-1 for the temperature of 40°C, 7.521 E-9 m2.s-1 for 50°C and 1.307 E-9 m2.s-1 for 70°C; the degree of correlation (R2) between the moisture content and the drying time was 0.994 at 70°C with a root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.0429, R2 of 0.990 at 50°C with a RMSE of 0.0216 and R2 of 0.993 at 40°C with an RMSE of 0.0162, so it is concluded that the criteria for a good adjustment of the drying model between the experimental temperature, as well as between the humidity rate and the drying time are met.