Investigation of thin-layer drying kinetics of zucchini with hot-air convection process

In this study, the laboratory scale hot-air convective drier was used for modeling of zucchini slice. The drying experiments were conducted at the air temperature range from 60 to 80 oC and thickness range from 3 to 7 mm in a tree repetition. The initial moisture content of the product was 93.05 % (wet basis moisture content). Ten different standard mathematical models available in the literature were fitted to the experimental data. The goodness evaluation of models was per calculating and comparing via the values of Determination of Coefficient (R2), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), Chi-square (χ2) and Mean Bias Error (MBE) between the observed and predicted moisture ratio. The result statistical comparison of the values for the ten models showed that the Midilli model represents drying characteristics better than the other equations for describing single layer drying of zucchini slice.