Electrohydrodynamic drying of sea cucumber (Stichopus japonicus)

- Sea cucumber were dried in an electrohydrodynamic system and oven, respectively.
- Electrohydrodynamic drying is more efficient in terms of energy saving.
- Electrohydrodynamic-dried sea cucumber exhibited less shrinkage, better rehydration.
- Electrohydrodynamic-dried sea cucumber possessed more protein.
- These results have shown an innovative method for sea cucumber drying.

To develop an improved dehydration method for sea cucumber, and reduce energy consumption, we dried sea cucumber using three different drying methods, namely, electrohydrodynamic (EHD) drying at 18 °C, ambient air drying at 18 °C and oven drying at 80 °C. The quality parameters of the dried products such as shrinkage rate, water absorption, rehydration ratio, protein and acid mucopolysaccharide contents, and texture and sensory characteristics were investigated. Energy consumption in the three drying methods was also examined. Based on the experimental results, oven drying took the shortest time to complete but presented poor quality and needed high energy consumption. EHD drying generated the best quality and consumed only 21.31% of the electric energy required for oven drying, but took a longer time to complete. Meanwhile, ambient air drying yielded indeterminate quality and did not consume electric energy but took the longest time to complete. Considering the requirements for products quality and energy conservation, EHD proved to be the best drying method.