Use of Inverse Method to Determine Thermophysical Properties of Minimally Processed Carrots during Chilling under Natural Convection.

The aim of this study was to determine the thermophysical properties and process parameters of cylindrical carrot pieces during their chilling. For this, the temperature of the central point of the product, initially at 19.9 °C, was recorded during chilling under natural convection, with the refrigerator air temperature maintained at 3.5 °C. A solver was created for the two-dimensional analytical solution of the heat conduction equation in cylindrical coordinates. This solver and the experimental data set were coupled to the LS Optimizer (V. 7.2) optimization software to simultaneously determine not only the values of thermal diffusivity (α) and heat transfer coefficient (hH), but also the uncertainties of these values. These values were consistent with those reported in the literature for carrots; in this study, the precision of these values and the confidence level of the results (95.4%) were also presented. Furthermore, the Biot numbers were greater than 0.1 and less than 40, indicating that the mathematical model presented in this study can be used to simultaneously estimate α and hH. A simulation of the chilling kinetics using the values obtained for α and hH showed good agreement with the experimental results, with a root mean square error RMSE = 9.651 × 10-3 and a chi-square χ2 = 4.378 × 10-3.

The Temperature Influence on Drying Kinetics and Physico-Chemical Properties of Pomegranate Peels and Seeds.

Pomegranate is a fruit desirable for its nutritional and medicinal properties which has a great industrial potential that is yet under-explored. Notable for its integral use, the peels are used in medicinal infusions and the seeds consumed without restrictions. In this sense, the objective of this work is to determine the drying kinetics of pomegranate peels and seeds in a hot air circulation oven, at temperatures of 50, 60, and 70 °C, adjust mathematical models to experimental data, determine the effective diffusivities and thermodynamic properties of the process and the physicochemical characteristics of peels and seeds of fresh pomegranates and in their flours. Twelve models were used to adjust the drying kinetics, obtaining better results with the Diffusion Approximation model, Verma, and modified Henderson and Pabis. The effective diffusivities were well represented by an Arrhenius equation, with activation energies of 31.39 kJ/mol for seeds and 10.60 kJ/mol for peels. In the drying process, the seeds showed higher values of enthalpy, entropy, and Gibbs free energy concerning peels. Pomegranate peel and seed flours have proximal composition and distinct physicochemical characteristics, with high fiber, carbohydrate, and energy content. In addition, peel flours stand out for their mineral content, and seed flours do for their lipid and protein content.

Calculation of the convective heat transfer coefficient and thermal diffusivity of cucumbers using numerical simulation and the inverse method.

Cooling of fruits and vegetables, immediately after the harvest, has been a widely used method for maximizing post-harvest life. In this paper, an optimization algorithm and a numerical solution are used to determine simultaneously the convective heat transfer coefficient, hH, and the thermal diffusivity, α, for an individual solid with cylindrical shape, using experimental data obtained during its cooling. To this end, the one-dimensional diffusion equation in cylindrical coordinates is discretized and numerically solved through the finite volume method, with a fully implicit formulation. This solution is coupled to an optimizer based on the inverse method, in which the chi-square referring to the fit of the numerical simulation to the experimental data is used as objective function. The optimizer coupled to the numerical solution was applied to experimental data relative to the cooling of a cucumber. The obtained results for α and hH were coherent with the values available in the literature. With the results obtained in the optimization process, the cooling kinetics of cucumbers was described in details.

Comparison of boundary conditions to describe drying of turmeric (Curcuma longa) rhizomes using diffusion models.

Turmeric is harvested with high moisture content and should be dried before the storage. It is observed that drying is quickest when the rhizomes are peeled and cut in small cylindrical pieces. In order to describe the process, normally a diffusive model is used, considering boundary condition of the first kind for the diffusion equation. This article uses analytical solutions considering boundaries conditions of the first (model 1) and third (model 2) kinds coupled to an optimizer to describe the drying process. It is shown that, for model 1, the fit of the analytical solution to the experimental data is biased, despite the good statistical indicators (chi-square χ(2) equal to 1.7095 × 10(-3) and coefficient of correlation R(2) of 0.9988). For model 2, the errors of the experimental points about the simulated curve can be considered randomly distributed, and the statistical indicators are much better than those obtained for model 1: χ(2) = 3.5596 × 10(-4) and R(2) = 0.9996.