Mathematical Modelling of the Drying Kinetics of Chestnut (Castanea Sativa Mill.)

The results show the drying kinetics are faster when the driving force is higher and the physical resistances are eliminated. The use of different varieties of chestnut does not yield significant differences in the drying kinetics. A proposed model for determination of effective coefficient of diffusion (28.7-381 × 10−12 m2 s−1) which accounts for shrinkage (volumetric shrinkage depends linearly on normalized moisture content) has been successfully used to simulate the drying kinetics at different temperatures. The most important resistance to water removal was given by the shell (endocarp) of the chestnut. It was observed that the colour of cut dried chestnuts was preserved better, and this parameter of quality was dependent on the moisture content of the chestnut.