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Drying of chilli in a combined infrared and hot air rotary dryer

Article in Journal of Food Science and Technology -Mysore- · September 2014

DOI: 10.1007/s13197-014-1546-9

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J Food Sci Technol (August 2015) 52(8):4895–4904
DOI 10.1007/s13197-014-1546-9

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Drying of chilli in a combined infrared and hot air rotary dryer

Suramya D. F. Mihindukulasuriya &
Hemantha P. W. Jayasuriya

Revised: 9 July 2014 / Accepted: 1 September 2014 / Published online: 17 September 2014
# Association of Food Scientists & Technologists (India) 2014

Abstract The investigation of an economical and efficient Introduction

drying method for chilli is beneficial because it could provide
a means of overcoming the drawbacks of traditional drying Its use as a spice and condiment makes chilli is an essential
methods: high operating power and long drying time, which food ingredient and cash crop in many parts of the world. The
result in a decrease in the quality of the chilli. This study shelf life of freshly harvested chilli is limited to 2–3 days due
involved the design and development of a combined infrared to its initial high moisture content (300 d.b. to 400 d.b.)
and hot air laboratory-scale rotary dryer, which consists of (Kaleemullah and Kailappan 2006). The initial moisture con-
three operating modes: hot air, infrared, and combined infra- tent of freshly harvested chilli can be reduced with the use of a
red and hot air. Drying experiments were conducted at five variety of drying methods that extend its shelf life. Sun drying,
different temperatures (50, 55, 60, 65, and 70 °C). The drying hot air drying, and fluidized bed drying are the methods most
behavior produced with the three operating modes was eval- commonly applied for drying chilli. Of the existing methods,
uated. The best mode was determined based on the parameters sun drying is the one most widely employed in tropical areas,
for evaluating the quality of chilli, the power consumption, although this technique entails disadvantages such as loss of
and the retention time. The results indicate that the optimal quality, product wastage, dependency on weather, and a sub-
overall drying performance for chilli was achieved at 70, 65, stantial time requirement. Hot air drying is also not very
50 °C drying temperatures in hot air, combined, and IR mode, suitable for chilli, since it requires relatively greater amounts
respectively. A positive correlation was observed between of energy and time, especially during the falling rate drying
retention time and power consumption with the hot air and period of the product (i.e., the period during which the mois-
the combined modes, while a negative correlation was identi- ture content of the drying product is reduced, decreasing the
fied in the IR mode. drying rate) (Maskan 2000, 2001). Although fluidized bed
drying offers some advantages, such as efficient mixing and
a faster drying rate due to the higher heat and mass transfer
Keywords Chilli . Drying . Power consumption . Infrared . coefficient, its major drawback is the reduction in the size of
Hot air . Rotary dryer the product particles (Goksu et al. 2005). This method also
requires more power for the mixing of the particles
(Mihindukulasuriya and Jayasuriya 2013).
In recent years, the use of electromagnetic radiation in
drying, such as infrared (IR) and microwave, has become
S. D. F. Mihindukulasuriya (*) increasingly popular due to the wide range of potential appli-
Department of Food Science, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road
cations and the advantages with respect to performance (Datta
East, Guelp, ON N1G 2W1, Canada
e-mail: [email protected] and Ni 2002; Goksu et al. 2005; Hebbar et al. 2004; Praveen
e-mail: [email protected] Kumar et al. 2006). IR radiation heating has been used as a
supplement to traditional heating methods because of its in-
H. P. W. Jayasuriya
trinsic advantages: the simplicity of the equipment required;
Department of Soils, Water and Agricultural Engineering, Sultan
Qaboos University, PO Box 34, PC, 123, Al-Khoud, Oman convenient accommodation of IR heating requirements with
e-mail: [email protected] convective, conductive, and microwave heating sources; a fast
4896 J Food Sci Technol (August 2015) 52(8):4895–4904

transient response; and significant energy savings (Sandu Four IR heaters (250 W) and one fin coil heater (1 kW)
1986; Das et al. 2004, 2009). In spite of its higher drying rate, were fixed in the outer chamber as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The
it is also characterized by a uniform temperature distribution, air flow was set to pass the heaters by inlet blower fixed at the
which produces a better quality product, saves space, and bottom of the outer chamber (Fig. 2). Convective heat was
provides a clean environment. As a result of penetration transferred in to the inner chamber that contains the chilli.
throughout the product, the inner layers are heated, which Increase of operating temperature decreases the moisture con-
increases the heat and mass transfer rates. Studies have shown tent in air, thereby the partial pressure difference between the
that IR technology is well suited to the extraction of high- moisture in chilli and air is increased. As a result, the moisture
potency vitamins from herbal sources (Hebbar et al. 2004). in chilli is removed and flows out as a vapor with the dry
The application of combined electromagnetic radiation heated air through the exhaust open fixed at the top of the
methods such as IR and hot air heating is considered to be chamber. Consequently, the moisture content of chilli is de-
more efficient than radiation or hot air heating alone because creased with drying time.
of the synergistic effect (Umesh et al. 2004). In IR drying, the The special feature in this design is that the combined effect
power density can be six to ten times greater than in convec- of IR and hot air heat sources. In IR drying, the power density
tive drying with hot air (Abukhaiifeh et al. 2003). Although can be six to ten times higher than that in convection drying
the literature contains a few reports related to the development with hot air alone. IR allows a high rate of water evaporation
of laboratory-scale combined IR dryers (Hebbar et al. 2004), without distorting of material’s internal structure (Abukhaiifeh
none was found that evaluated the drying process in a com- et al. 2003). In addition to combined IR and hot air mode, this
bined IR and hot air rotary dryer with respect to drying developed dryer has a rotation facility that provides uniform
performance characteristics such as retention time, power drying of the product with fluidize bed effect. The temperature
consumption, and the quality parameters of the product. controller was used to control the temperature of the inner
The objectives of this work were (i) to develop a chamber. Thermocouple sensors were located in the inlet and
laboratory-scale rotary dryer prototype that can operate in the outlet opening to sense the temperature.
three different modes: hot air, IR, and combined IR and hot
air, and (ii) to determine the optimal temperature and operat-
Component design and fabrication
ing mode based on retention time, power consumption, and
the capsaicin content and red color of the chilli.
The outer chamber

The total length of the outer chamber was 350 mm and the
Materials and method diameter was 250 mm. The outer chamber was made using
1.2 mm stainless steel sheet (Fig. 1). Four IR tubes (wave
The experiments were conducted with ripe chilli (pickino length of 2.4–3 μm) and one fin coil heater (1 kW) were fitted
variety) that was purchased from a local supermarket in to the outer chamber along the longitudinal direction closer to
Bangkok, Thailand. Each batch was prepared with 100 g of the air inlet. Six bearings (2.54 cm outer diameter) were
fresh chilli sample. Grading, stem separation and washing arranged to facilitate the frictionless rotation of the inner drum
were done prior to drying. Chillies were not treated with any with respect to the outer. Aluminum foil with glass-wool layer
chemical or sliced prior to the experiments. was used as an insulation material to cover the outer drum in
order to prevent the heat loss (Fig. 2). The inlet and outlet
openings were made in the outer drum at appropriate locations
Development of combined IR and hot air rotary dryer
and sizes in order to facilitate the smooth air flow movements
as shown in Fig. 1.
A combined IR and hot air rotary dryer was designed and
developed for drying fresh chillies. The schematic illustration
of the dryer is shown in Fig. 1. The developed dryer consists The inner chamber
of two chambers, inner and outer. The rotation of inner cham-
ber was achieved by using an induction motor through a The total length of the inner chamber was 350 mm and the
reduction gear box (Fig. 2). The gear box was used to reduce diameter was 150 mm. This size was selected in order to
the motor speed. The rotation speed was further reduced by obtain optimum capacity to carry out laboratory experiments
selecting a chain-sprocket drive up to a desired level. Three from 100 to 1,000 g of chilli. The inner chamber was made by
blades were connected to inner chamber in order to facilitate using 0.58 mm thickness stainless steel sieve type (with 5 mm
the product fluidization and the forward movement. The rotor sieve size) sheet (304 SS). This sieve type material was used to
was slanted with 5° angle in order to support the movement of maintain the required air flow into the inner chamber of the
the product from inlet to the outlet. dryer. Three steel blades were connected to inner chamber in
J Food Sci Technol (August 2015) 52(8):4895–4904 4897

Fig. 1 Schematic illustration of

the combined IR and hot air rotary
dryer

order to facilitate the fluidize effect and forward movement of Blower installation at inlet
the product.
The inlet blower directed the heated air in to the inner chamber
and maintained the airflow through the dryer. Since the dryer
Power transmission system was laboratory scale, the air flow was maintained at 4.9×
10−4 m3/min (2A, 12 V, 1,450 rpm). This volume flow rate
The chain and sprocket drive were used to reduce the was controlled by using separate control switch.
rotation speed of inner chamber. The inner chamber was
rotated at relatively low rotation speed (5 rpm) in order
to prevent the slippage during rotating. A 1/3 hp, Installation of thermocouples, data acquisition systems,
1,425 rpm, 220 v induction motor was used to drive and temperature controller
the iner chamber. The rotational speed of 5 rpm was
achieved by reducing the speed of motor using gear box Type J thermocouples with an accuracy of ±2 °C were used to
with 1: 60 gear ratio and selecting 3.15 cm diameter measure the temperature data in the outlet as well as in the
sprokect (Fig. 2). inlet. The product temperature was measured by connecting

Fig. 2 Experimental setup of

combined IR and hot air rotary
dryer showing all parts: rotary
dryer, motor and gear box, control
system for switching, data
acquisition system, and desktop
computer with LabView software
4898 J Food Sci Technol (August 2015) 52(8):4895–4904

one thermocouple with a chilli at the outlet. There were two residue. After one hour, the filtered solution was trans-
positions for the thermocouple settings, two for outlet and ferred into centrifuge tubes and centrifuged at
other two for the inlet to measure the wet bulb and dry bulb 5,000 rpm for 15 min. The supernatant color was mea-
temperatures at each point. An analog type temperature con- sured in a spectrophotometer at 650 nm.
troller was used. It maintained the process temperature within
±1 °C of set point. The sensor which was connected to the Measurement of color parameters
regulator was located in the inlet. Separate switches were used
to control the IR heaters, fin coil heater, and for the tempera- The color of the dried chilli was recorded at each temperature
ture controller. Therefore, inlet temperature was controlled in each operation mode. The color was measured in L* (lu-
throughout the experiment. minance), a* (red/green) and b* (yellow/blue) chromaticity
coordinates using a colorimeter (Color Flex of Hunter
The temperature data were recorded with a high-speed Associates Laboratory, Inc., Reston, Virginia, USA).
LabView data acquisition (DAQ) system (National Although, all the values of L*, a* and b* were measured,
Instruments, Austin, TX) (Fig. 2). The data were collected the a* value was considered as a color parameter of chilli in
by using NI Labview software (National Instruments, Austin, the analysis, since a* value represents a measure of redness of
TX). Each power mode including IR, fin-coil, and combined chilli. The instrument was calibrated prior to each experiment
IR and fin coil was manually controlled. with white and black ceramic plates. Each experiment was
repeated three times and reported values were average of
Experimental procedure triplicates.

Chillies were dried from 280 % to nearly 9 % (d.b) Selection of optimum temperature in each drying mode
moisture content in each experiment. The initial and
final moisture content of the chilli samples were deter- The drying air temperature of chilli was optimized based
mined by drying duplicate samples in an hot air oven at on the retention time, power consumption, color, and
105 °C for 6 h. Chillies were dried at 50, 55, 60, 65 capsaicin content. Nine point self scaling method was
and 70 °C operating temperatures. Experiments were used to evaluate and optimize the mode of dryer as well
conducted at each operating temperature after achieving as the operating temperature (Drewnowski et al. 1999).
steady state conditions. The samples of 200 g were used Scaling of each parameter was done based on maximum
for each experiment. Drying experiments with three and minimum of parameters which were consequence of
replications were conducted at 50, 55, 60, 65, and descriptive statistical analysis. The scaling procedure for
70 °C. Dry bulb and wet bulb temperatures in the power consumption, color chromaticity coordinate (a*),
drying air were recorded during the experiments. The retention time, and capsaicin content was shown in
power consumption of each mode (IR, hot air, and Table 1. The applied point scale ranged from 1 to 9.
combined) was measured by using Fluke power meter Since, the power consumption and retention time were
(Bristol, PA, United States). The surface color of dried inversely correlated with the drying efficiency, the oper-
chilli was measured by using color flex hunter colorim- ating mode exhibited lowest power consumption and re-
eter (Color Flex of Hunter Associates Laboratory, Inc., tention time with higher color coordinate a* and capsaicin
Reston, Virginia, USA). content was selected as the best operating mode.
Therefore, the highest point in the scale, ‘9’ was applied
Measurement of capsaicin content in chilli to the highest color coordinate and capsaicin content.
Since, the retention time and power consumption are
The capsaicin content of dried chilli was measured in inversely correlated with the effectiveness of drying, the
each operating mode and temperature by using colori- lower scaling values were assigned to the higher retention
metric method that was reported by Sadasivam and time and power consumption values. The scaling process
Manickam (1997). Dry chilli powder of 0.5 g was was conducted by assuming each attribute is equally im-
collected in a 100 ml volumetric flask. Dry acetone portant, since the weight of each attributes will be
(10 ml) was added to volumetric flask and shaken in depended on various factors such as sensory attributes,
mechanical shaker for 3 h. The contents were centri- perception on quality parameters of people in different
fuged at 10,000 rpm for 10 min. One ml of clear geological context, and cost of production, availability
supernatant was pipetted into a test tube and dried in of energy, and etc. Total score was calculated based on
a hot water bath. The resultant residue was dissolved in this scaling method for each mode at each temperatures.
5 ml of 0.4 % sodium hydroxide solution. Three milli- The optimum temperature and the best mode were quali-
liters of 3 % phosphomolybdic acid was added to the tatively analyzed based on the total score.
J Food Sci Technol (August 2015) 52(8):4895–4904 4899

Table 1 Scoring procedure for

dried chilli based on color chro- Color (a*) Capsaicin content Retention Power consumption Points
maticity coordinate (a*) (mg/ml) time (h) (kWh)

15.27–16.64 0.39–041 17.12–19.00 3.69–4.08 1

16.65–18.02 0.42–0.44 15.23–17.11 3.32–3.68 2
18.03–19.40 0.45–0.47 13.34–15.22 2.95–3.31 3
19.41–20.78 0.48–0.50 11.45–13.33 2.58–2.94 4
20.79–22.16 0.51–0.53 9.56–11.44 2.21–2.57 5
22.17–23.54 0.54–0.56 07.67–9.55 1.84–2.20 6
23.55–24.92 0.57–0.59 05.78–7.66 1.47–1.83 7
24.93–26.30 0.60–0.62 03.89–5.77 1.10–1.46 8
26.31–27.68 0.63–0.66 02.00–3.88 0.73–1.09 9

Results and discussion specific thermophysical properties that decrease the heat and
mass transfer rate during drying. Generally, constant rate
Drying characteristics of chilli drying period is observed for hygroscopic products. The sur-
face diffusion is the dominant mechanism during constant rate
Figure 3 shows the moisture ratio verses time profile of chilli drying period (Erbay and Icier 2010).
at each temperature in combined IR and hot air mode. It is The time required to reduce the moisture ratio of chilli from
apparent from Fig. 3 that the absence of constant rate drying 1 to 0.001 was 2 h at 70 °C in combined hot air and IR mode,
period during the drying of chilli for the temperatures tested. while hot air oven alone required more than 5 h. At 50 °C, it
Similar results were reported by Akpinar et al. (2003) for red required more than 18 h in hot air alone mode and nearly 4 h in
pepper, Kaleemullah and Kailappan (2005) for red chilli, the IR mode alone. The combined mode with IR and hot air
Ibrahim (2006) for mint, Togrul and Dursun (2003) for apri- together required only 13 h. This indicated that IR mode alone
cot, Garau et al. (2006) for orange skin, Senadeera et al. required lower retention time to dry chilli. This fast drying
(2003) for potato and green bean, Sogi et al. (2003) for tomato may be attributed to the more efficient energy transfer from
seeds, and Krokida et al. (2003) for vegetables. However, heat source to the heating element. In an IR drying, the energy
Akintunde et al. (2005) found that the drying of bell-pepper is transferred from source to the target without leaking to air
was in two drying rate periods, mainly the constant rate drying (Togrul and Dursun 2003). Indeed, it is apparent from the data
period and the falling rate drying period. The falling rate that drying efficiency in terms of retention time was higher in
drying period was observed due to the rapid heat and mass IR alone mode compared with either combined mode or hot
transfer across the skin (i.e. pericarp) of the fruit. The thick- air mode alone. A significant reduction (P<0.05) of retention
ness of pericarp and thermophysical properties of the fruit can time was observed when increasing drying temperature from
directly affect for the heat and mass transfer during drying. 50 to 55 °C in all operating modes. The observed differences
The fruits exhibit constant rate drying period may comprise in retention time with increasing drying temperature from 50

Fig. 3 Variation of moisture ratio

with time during the drying of
chilli at 50, 55, 60, 65, and 70 °C
in the combined IR and hot air
rotary mode
4900 J Food Sci Technol (August 2015) 52(8):4895–4904

Fig. 4 Variation of moisture ratio

with time of dried chilli at 50, 55,
60, 65, and 70 °C in the hot air
rotary mode

to 55 °C were 9 (Fig. 3), 5.5 (Fig. 4), and 1 h (Fig. 5) in hot air, the range of temperatures from 50 to 55 °C. At higher tem-
combined, and IR mode, respectively. peratures ranging from 60 to 70 °C, the color coordinate (a*)
was varied between 20 and 25 in hot air mode. It indicated that
Variation of color maximum change of color was 44 % in the hot air mode
within the temperature range of 50–70 °C. The color coordi-
Figure 6 reveals the changes of red color chromaticity coor- nate (a*) varied between 10 and 15 at 70 °C in IR mode and it
dinate a* at five different temperatures in three different reduced almost 60 % of the color compared with fresh value
operating modes. As can be seen in Fig. 6, the operating of the product. The operation of dryer in IR mode alone can
temperature and color were inversely related. With the in- increase the heat penetration directly into the product within
crease of drying temperature from 50 to 70 °C, the color short time period. Consequently, higher color change was
reduction of chilli was significant (P<0.05). Similar results observed in IR mode at higher temperatures. However, the
were observed by Kim et al. (1982) and Kaleemullah and color of chilli was almost similar in hot air and combined
Kailappan (2005) for red pepper and chilli. modes at 70 °C. It can be attributed to the synergistic effect
The lowest color coordinate (a*) was observed in an IR emanates from both IR and hot air sources leading to efficient
mode whereas the highest was observed in the hot air mode. heat and mass transfer during drying of the product in a
Therefore, the quality with respect to color of chilli was combined hot air and IR mode.
comparably good in hot air mode. Although the retention time The color reduction was 27 % compared with fresh sample
of chilli was longer in hot air mode as mentioned in section in hot air mode whereas it was 36.9 % and 43.8 % in com-
3.1, the color coordinate (a*) was varied between 25 and 30 in bined mode and IR mode respectively at 50 °C. Within the

Fig. 5 Variation of moisture ratio

with time of dried chilli at 50, 55,
60, 65, and 70 °C in the IR rotary
mode
J Food Sci Technol (August 2015) 52(8):4895–4904 4901

Fig. 6 Comparison of color

between fresh and dried chilli at
50, 55, 60, 65, and 70 °C in hot
air, IR, and combined IR and hot
air rotary modes

temperature range of 50–70 °C, the observed color changes Kaleemullah and Kailappan (2005) for red chilli. As can be
were 21, 21.5, and 28 % in hot air, combined, and IR mode seen in Fig. 7, the highest capsaicin reduction was observed in
respectively. There was no significant (P<0.05) difference in IR mode while the lowest reduction was observed in hot air
color change in the range of temperature of 50–70 °C in hot air mode. The capsaicin content of chilli dried in IR mode was
mode and combined mode. Thus, quality loss can be reduced reduced nearly by 22 % over combined mode as the drying
by using combined IR and hot air mode as it provides the temperature increased from 50 to 70 °C while it was reduced
synergistic effect. Overall results indicated that the chilli color by 25 % over hot air mode.
was depended on the operation mode used during drying and The linear relationship was observed between the capsaicin
the color was negatively correlated with the drying content and the drying temperature in each mode under the
temperature. tested temperature range of 50–70 °C (Fig. 7).
The developed relationship for the capsaicin content and
operating temperature in hot air mode was,
Variation of capsaicin content
C 1 ¼ −0:0067ðθÞ þ 0:9854 ð1Þ
Capsaicin content was measured in each chilli sample in three
different modes of the rotary dryer. Figure 7 shows the vari-
ation of capsaicin content with different temperatures in each where, C1 =capsaicin content in hot air mode and θ=drying
operating mode. It is apparent from the data that the capsaicin temperature.
content and the operating temperature were negatively The calculated RMSE and R2 values for the developed
correlated with each other. Similar results were observed by model were 0.01068932 and 0.9521 respectively.

Fig. 7 Variation of capsaicin

content during the drying of chilli
in hot air, IR, and combined IR
and hot air rotary modes
4902 J Food Sci Technol (August 2015) 52(8):4895–4904

Table 2 The calculated total power consumption in hot air rotary mode at 50, 55, 60, 65, 70 °C

Temperature Retention time Time-on Time-off Time duration for Total on Power consumption Total power
(°C) (h) (s) (s) heater on system (h) period (h) (kW) consumption (kWh)

50 19.00 90 210 0.30 5.70 0.715 4.08

55 11.00 158 165 0.49 5.38 0.715 3.85
60 08.00 217 118 0.65 5.18 0.715 3.71
65 06.25 280 98 0.74 4.63 0.715 3.31
70 04.00 413 80 0.84 3.35 0.715 2.40

The developed empirical relationship for the combined duration required for the switch on system was calculated
mode was, and it was used to calculate the consumed power at five
different temperatures. The retention time of chilli, the time
C 2 ¼ −0:0060ðθÞ þ 0:9237 ð2Þ duration for heater on system, and the total power consump-
tion in each mode at each temperature are tabulated in
where, C2 =capsaicin content in combined mode and θ=
Tables 2, 3, 4. According to the calculated values, the highest
drying temperature.
power consumption of 4.08 kWh was observed in hot air
The calculated RMSE and R2 values were 0.02032994 and
mode while IR mode consumed 0.73 kWh at 50 °C.
0.8172 respectively for the capsaicin content in combined
A negative correlation was observed between operating
mode.
temperature and power consumption with the hot air and the
The developed empirical model to calculate the capsaicin
combined modes, while a positive correlation was identified
content in IR mode was
in the IR mode. On the other hand, the retention time and
C 3 ¼ −0:0051ðθÞ þ 0:7467 ð3Þ power consumption correlated positively in hot air and com-
bined mode, while a negative correlation was observed in IR
where, C3 =capsaicin content in IR mode and θ=drying mode. It indicates that power consumption was mainly
temperature. depended on the operating temperature in IR mode.
The calculated RMSE and R2 values were 0.00995508 and The observed maximum retention time variation for the
0.9352 respectively for the capsaicin content in IR mode temperature range of 50–70 °C was 2 h in IR mode, which was
during drying. The developed empirical models can be used the minimum time variation observed in all these three differ-
to calculate the capsaicin content at any temperature in each ent rotary modes, thereby effect of retention time on the
mode, since the calculated RMSE and R2 values were within consumed power was not significant in IR mode. The IR
the acceptable limits. mode showed the highest power consumption at 70 °C of
approximately 0.95 kWh and lowest at 50 °C of 0.73 kWh.
Thus, IR mode takes longer time duration at higher tempera-
Power consumption tures for heater on system increasing power consumption. The
combined mode consumed fairly lower power compared to
The consumed power was measured individually in three hot air mode due to the lower retention time. The hot air mode
different modes at each temperature during drying. Since the consumed 60.4 % more power than the IR mode as well as
temperature was controlled by using ON-OFF system, the 33.5 % more power than the combined mode at 70 °C. It can
time duration was measured separately. The total time be attributed to the different heating sources used in different

Table 3 The calculated total power consumption in combined IR and hot air rotary mode at 50, 55, 60, 65, 70 °C

Temperature Retention Time-on Time-off Time duration for Total on Power consumption Total power consumption
(°C) time (h) (s) (s) heater on system (h) period (h) (kW) (kWh)

50 13.50 90 240 0.27 3.68 1.08 3.98

55 08.00 120 180 0.40 3.20 1.08 3.46
60 05.00 150 150 0.50 2.50 1.08 2.70
65 04.00 180 133 0.58 2.30 1.08 2.48
70 02.00 240 90 0.73 1.45 1.08 1.57
J Food Sci Technol (August 2015) 52(8):4895–4904 4903

Table 4 The calculated total power consumption in IR rotary mode at 50, 55, 60, 65, 70 °C

Temperature Retention Time-on Time-off Time duration for heater on Total on Power consumption Total power consumption
(°C) time (h) (s) (s) system (h) period (h) (kW) (kWh)

50 4.25 475 1,140 0.29 1.25 0.58 0.73

55 3.25 564 809 0.41 1.34 0.58 0.77
60 2.75 634 565 0.53 1.45 0.58 0.84
65 2.25 660 450 0.59 1.34 0.58 0.78
70 2.00 819 180 0.82 1.64 0.58 0.95

modes, since fin coil heaters required higher power in a hot air 70 °C. However, the difference between minimum and
mode when compared to IR heaters. In addition, hot air mode maximum score was 3 (8–5) at 65 °C, whereas it was≥
consumed further power for blower operation due to the air 4 in all other temperatures. At 65 °C temperature, the
flow characteristics. observed minimum score was 5. It indicates that at
65 °C, it maintains considerably higher score for all
Optimum temperature in each drying mode the attributes with minimum variation. It further con-
firms that drying of chilli at 65 °C was more suitable
Table 5 shows the total score for the hot air rotary mode. It is compared with other temperatures in combine mode.
apparent from the data that the highest score was observed at However, chillies were dried at 50 °C received a good
70 °C in hot air mode. It is mainly due to the less power score for the color and capsaicin content of ‘9’, out of
consumption and retention time. Although the chillies dried at ‘9’, it received a poor score of ‘1’ for power consump-
50 °C received good score for the quality parameters of ‘9’ out tion. Therefore, with respect to quality parameters, the
of ‘9’, it received a poor score for both retention time and most suitable temperature was 50 °C in the combined
power consumption. In terms of quality parameters, the best mode.
temperature was 50 °C in hot air mode. However, the differ- Table 7 reveals the total scores recorded at each tempera-
ence between minimum and maximum score was 3 (8–5) at ture in IR mode. As can be seen in Table 7, the highest score
70 °C, whereas it was 8 (9–1) at 50 °C. Moreover, the was observed at 50 and 55 °C with total of 26 points. The
minimum score observed at 70 °C was 5, whereas it was≤3 difference between minimum and maximum scores applied at
for all other drying temperatures. It indicated that variation 50 °C was 5 (9–4). Moreover, the minimum score was 4 that
between all the attributes at 70 °C drying temperature was was observed for capsaicin content. The considerable quality
minimum. Additionally, it was able to maintain relatively loss was observed at 65–70 °C, thereby 65–70 °C temperature
higher minimum score (≥5) for each attribute, confirming that range was not suitable for chilli drying in IR mode when
the 70 °C drying temperature was more suitable for drying of considering quality parameters. However, when considering
chilli in hot air mode. quality parameters and the minimum variation between the
Table 6 shows the total score recorded in each tem- scores of each parameters, the drying at 50 °C temperature in
perature in combined hot air and IR mode. It is clear IR mode was more suitable for chilli.
from the data that the highest score was observed at

Table 5 Scoring procedure applied for dried chilli based on retention Table 6 Scoring procedure applied for dried chilli based on retention
time, capsaicin content, power consumption, and color in hot air rotary time, capsaicin content, power consumption, and color in combined IR
mode and hot air rotary mode

Temperature Score Total Temperature Score Total

(°C) score (°C) score
Power Retention Capsaicin Color (a*) Power Retention Capsaicin Color (a*)
consumption time (h) content consumption time (h) content
(kWh) (mg/ml) (kWh) (mg/ml)

50 1 1 9 9 20 50 1 3 9 9 22
55 1 5 7 9 22 55 2 6 6 7 21
60 1 6 7 7 21 60 4 8 6 6 24
65 3 7 6 6 22 65 5 8 6 5 24
70 5 8 5 5 23 70 7 9 4 6 26
4904 J Food Sci Technol (August 2015) 52(8):4895–4904

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