Proper model of thin layer drying curve for taro (Colocasia esculenta L. Schott) chips

The present work reported the determination of the most proper thin layer drying model for the understanding of taro chips drying behaviour. Taro chips with average initial moisture content of 77.28 ± 1.7% (db) were dried in a custom laboratory scale hot-air dryer with static tray type at selected hot air temperatures (50, 60, 70°C). The moisture content, drying rate and moisture ratio during drying were measured and calculated. The calculated moisture ratio data were fitted to the 12 existed thin layer drying models. The results indicated that the drying rate depended on hot air temperature applied in which drying rate increased with increasing hot air temperature. Among the 12 proposed models, the Midilli et al. (2002) model precisely represented the hot air drying behaviour of taro chips. By using the Midilli et al. (2002) model, higher coefficient of determination (R ² : 0.997, 0.998, 0.998), lower mean square error (RMSE: 0.019, 0.016, 0.013) and lower mean square of deviation (χ ² : 4.8e ^-04 , 3.3e ^-04 , 2.2e ^-04 ) were obtained for 50, 60, and 70°C, respectively.