Modeling of Drying Kinetics of Fresh Carrot (Daucus carota)

This work concerned the study of the influence of the drying parameters on the water loss of the fresh carrot coming from the area of Adamawa. This study was undertaken in a drier designed and produced in a tropical environment. Drying was carried out at various temperatures 45; 50 and 55°C and at various speeds of the air circulation (0.5;1 and 1.5 m/s), with relative humidity of the variable air between 60 and 70%. The water content initial of the carrot samples were 90.8%, and we followed during drying, the loss of weight of the samples. It arises from the results that the temperature and the air velocity drying have a significant influence over the time of drying. The couple (55°C; 1m/s) is that which makes it possible to obtain the results most interesting for fresh carrot. This couple led to a time of 200 minutes drying. The modeling of the experimental data shows that the exponential model represents perfectly the behavior of this product; some is the cases of figure considered. This work would allow a better valorization of the local resources, the reduction of the losses post harvests, the reduction of the consumption of energy.