Study of the Solar Drying of Pears

ABSTRACT

Four pear cultivars originating from Portugal (‘Amêndoa’, ‘Amorim’, ‘Carapinheira Branca’ and ‘S. Bartolomeu’) were dried in a solar drier, following a traditional sun drying method normally used in Portugal for the production of dried pears. The temperature and relative humidity inside the drier were recorded hourly throughout the whole process, while the moisture loss in the pears was evaluated with a variable frequency along the drying process, according to the drying rate. From the results obtained, it was possible to conclude that the conditions inside the drier are very favorable to drying, with periods in which the atmosphere is characterized by very high temperatures and very low relative humidities. Furthermore, the drying rates of the four cultivars of pears used in this study were investigated and it was observed that all of them present a similar kinetic behavior, thus enabling the use of alternative cultivars for the production of dried pears.

Key Words:

• Solar drying
• pears
• solar drier
• drying kinetics