Temperatures dependent drying kinetics of cocoa beans varieties in air-ventilated oven

Abstract

The drying kinetics of three varieties of cocoa beans (N38, F and WA) at 40, 50 and 60 degree centigrade was investigated experimentally. The three different varieties were dried using laboratory air oven UF Memmert and the moisture content determined according to AOAC standards. The results show that drying processes occur mainly in the range of the falling-rate period and the drying rates were observed to be faster at higher drying temperature. The effective diffusivities of the three cocoa beans varieties determined at 40, 50 and 60 degree centigrade ranged between 9.9269 x 10-11 and 4.4671 x 10-10 metre square per second. The predicted Arrhenius constant and activation energy were 2.47 x 10-10 metre square per second and 23.61 kilojoule per mole.