Kinetic and Mathematical Modeling of Drying of Asparagus officinalis in Different Drying Methods

Abstract

Asparagus officinalis is a spring vegetable contains flavonoids, amino acid derivatives, glycolic acid, tyrosine, vitamins, saponins and essential oils and it has health benefits such as prevention of cancer, mutation, inflammation, and liver damage. The aim of this study is to investigate drying kinetics of Asparagus officinalis. According to R, χ2, RMSE and Error values, the model parameters at different temperatures (70°C, 80°C, 90°C), spear thickness (1 mm, 2 mm and 3mm), and microwave power (100 W, 200 W, and 300W) were compared. Midilli and Kucuk equation was found as the best equation to describe drying of Asparagus officinalis. R values of Midilli and Kucuk Equation changed between 0.8886 and 0.9989 for hot air drying and between 0.9568 and 0.9999 for a microwave drying.