Critical Analysis of the Use of Semiempirical Models on the Dehydration of Thin-Layer Foods Based on Two Study Cases

ABSTRACT: Moisture transport during food drying can be phenomenologically described by Fick’s second law and by the so-called anomalous diffusion model. However, in the literature, many studies have shown the extensive use of empirical/semiempirical models (EMs/SEMs) to adjust experimental data for the drying of thin-layer foods. This research aims to perform a critical analysis of the most commonly used EMs/SEMs and compare them with Fick’s second law and an anomalous diffusion model using two different sets of hot-air drying data. Two waste byproducts from the food industry, spent coffee grounds and passion fruit peels, were selected for analysis. The selected EMs/SEMs were found to be mathematically interrelated (i.e., some are a subset of others), and their appropriateness was incorrectly justified mainly by their statistical goodness-of-fit. As shown, it is highly recommended that researchers start analyzing drying data with phenomenological models. The extensive use of EMs and SEMs can be replaced by the anomalous diffusion model, which has a high capacity to adjust empirical data and a sound phenomenological description of the process.

• Autores: Vega Castro, Oscar Alfonso; Osorio Arias, Juan Camilo; Duarte Correa, Yudy Stella; Jaques, Aldonza; Ramírez, Ristian; Núñez, Helena; Simpson, Ricardo
• Tipo de recurso: Article of investigation
• Fecha de publicación: 2023
• Institución: Universidad de Antioquia
• Repositorio: Repositorio UdeA
• Idioma: eng
• OAI Identifier: oai:bibliotecadigital.udea.edu.co:10495/33566
• Acceso en línea: https://hdl.handle.net/10495/33566
• Palabra clave: Conservación de Alimentos; Food Preservation; Secado por aire caliente; Hot air drying; http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_25799
• Rights: openAccess
• License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/co/