Аннотация
In this study, experimental investigation and mathematical modeling of microwave drying behavior of some vegetables and fruits such as apricot, kiwi and mint leaves are performed. In this regard, a microwave oven is used for experiments and 23 thin layer drying curve equation in the literature are evaluated for mathematical modeling of drying behavior of those products. For this purpose, mass loss and drying time are measured depending on six different microwave powers (100W, 300W, 450W, 600W, 700W, and 800W) and dimensionless mass ratio, moisture content, drying rate and mass shrinkage ratio are estimated and variation of colors are observed. For comparison of equations obtained from modeling, 14 different evaluation criteria are used and the best five drying model are determined. Consequently, it is determined that the most suitable microwave powers were 300W, 600W, 700W and the best drying models are Modified Page, Midilli-Kucuk and Midilli-Kucuk for apricot, kiwi and mint leaves, respectively. Also, it is observed that when the microwave power increases, drying time significantly decreases. However, it is seen that microwave drying method is suitable for drying of kiwi and mint leaves but not suitable for drying of apricot especially at high microwave powers.