Convective drying kinetics and quality parameters of European Cranberrybush

Abstract

In this research, the effects of convective drying (60, 70, 80 and 90 °C) techniques on the drying kinetics, color, antioxidant capacity and total phenolic content of European cranberrybush were investigated in detail. To choose the best thin-layer drying models for the drying treatments, 10 mathematical models were compared for the experimental data. Depending on the evaluation by statistical tests, the Midilli et al model was determined to be the best suitable model to explain the drying behavior of European cranberrybush samples. All of the colorimetric parameters were influenced by drying temperatures. Antioxidant capacity and total phenolic content values of European cranberrybush samples displayed a significant reduction at low-temperature levels (60 and 70 °C) with regard to those at high-temperature levels (80 and 90 °C). In addition, the correlation analysis between antioxidant capacity and total phenolic content exhibited a high degree of correlation (R2= 0.8656).