Mathematical Modeling and Optimization of Lowtemperature Vacuum Drying for Banana

Abstract

Bananas are one of the most common energy yielding fruits, and also a nutritional source for human health. In this study, low-temperature vacuum drying was applied to preserve banana because this method offers a low nutrient loss, a decrease in drying time leading to low energy cost, and the low moisture content preventing products from microbial spoilage. Four mathematical models were built, and a multi-objective optimization problem was established for the drying process. The restricted area method with R*(Z) optimal combination criterion was used to optimize for the drying mode of banana including temperature of 52.76 oC, pressure of 0.006 mmHg and drying time of 13.94 hours. Experimental results showed that the energy consumption was 3.96 kWh/kg, the residual water content was 3.64 %, the vitamin C loss was 3.27 % and the maximum rehydration capacity was 95.17 %, which convinced that dried bananas had achieved a minimum cost, the best quality, and a long-term storage.