Modelling convectional oven drying characteristics and energy consumption of dehydrated yam (Dioscorea rotundata)...

The influence of pre-treatments and different dehydrating temperatures on the drying dynamics, energy consumption, and quality attribute of yam chips was studied. Dehydration was executed employing a convectional oven dryer under four temperatures (50, 60, 70, and 80 °C) and 2.0 m/s air velocity. Yam chips were subjected to pre-treatment conditions of blanching (for 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 min), citric acid (1 and 5 %), and ascorbic acid (1 and 5 %) solutions whereas, untreated yam chips samples served as the control. Dehydrated yam chips were further assessed for textural and colour properties. The drying rate was found to be faster at a higher temperature of 80 °C compared to lower temperatures of 50, 60, and 70 °C. The asymptotic model was established to be the suitable descriptive model for predicting moisture profile in the pre-treated yam chips based on highest R² values (0.995-0.999), lowest χ² values (4.422-18.498), and the root mean square error (RMSE) values (2.103-4.30). Pre-treatment and drying temperature had a significant (p < 0.05) impact on the hardness and colour of dehydrated yam chips. Blanching at 4 min yielded yam chips with most preferred texture (hardness: 81.3 N) and lightness (L*) in colour values (71.07 %) after drying compared to other pre-treated samples. The effective moisture diffusivity values of the pre-treated samples were in the range of 5.17294 × 10^-9m²/s to 1.10143 × 10^-8m²/s for 5 % citric acid samples at 50 °C and all pre-treated samples at 80 °C respectively. The general findings of the study indicated a least energy usage of 43.68 kWh as a cost-effective method of drying. Also, 4 min blanching, 5 % citric acid, and 1 % ascorbic acid at 80 °C were found to be the optimum conditions for pre-treating yam chips based on lower energy level consumption rates and improved sensory properties thus attributing to the quality of the dried yam chips.