Thermal analysis of drying process of durum wheat dough under the programmed temperature-rising conditions

• The drying process of durum wheat dough was analyzed using TG and DSC.
• The thermal analysis was conducted under the programmed temperature-rising condition.
• The activation energy for drying increased at a specific moisture content or lower.
• The drying rate began to significantly decrease at the glass transition temperature.

The effects of temperature and moisture content on the drying rate of durum wheat pasta were examined using thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) at temperature-rising rates of 0.2–1.0 °C/min. The activation energy for the mass transfer coefficient of drying was estimated to be ca. 32 kJ/mol at a moisture contents of 0.14 kg-H2O/kg-d.m. or higher, but increased rapidly as the moisture content dropped below this level. The conclusion temperature of the endothermic peak in the DSC and the temperature of the inflection point of the drying characteristics curve were located near the glass transition curve of the durum semolina flour.