The purpose of this study was investigating the effect of wheat flour replacement withtriticale flour (0-30%) and β-glucan fiber (0-10%) on physicochemical, texture and sensory properties of Barbari bread with using of two-level factorial design containing central points based on D-optimal. The results showed that withsubstitution of these two factors, the water activity, moisture and ash content in bread samples significantly increased and the fat, carbohydrate and calorie of the samples decreased. Antioxidant capacity and protein of samples increased with replacement of triticale flour. However, high levels of β-glucan decreased the protein and antioxidant capacity of the samples. Also the fiber content of samples decreased and increased with addition of triticale flour and β-glucan, respectively. The effect ofreplacement of triticale flour on the specific volume of bread was dependent on the amount of β-glucan; so that thespecific volume of bread withreplacement of triticale in the samples without β-glucan significantly decreased but itincreased in the samples containing high levels of β-glucan. Loss weight, crust and crumb color, firmness and penetration energy of bread were not significantly affected by the substituted factors. According to the sensory evaluation, the replacement of triticale flour and β-glucan increased the flavor score and overall acceptance of barbari bread samples. According to the results, bread samples enriched with 30% triticale flour and 10% β-glucan have desirable physicochemical, texture and sensory properties and are recommended as optimum samples for production.

In this research a new laboratory solar-VACUUM DRYER was designed and fabricated to study drying behavior of pomegranate arils with heat source of solar energy. Drying of the samples was implemented at the absolute pressures of 10, 20, 40 and 60 kPa. Impact of different absolute pressures on moisture loss trend, effective moisture diffusivity, color and shrinkage of pomegranate arils, dried in solar-VACUUM DRYER was studied. With regression analysis of the applied models, proved that the Midilli model had supremacy in drying behavior prediction of pomegranate arils. Results indicated that with decreasing absolute pressure, drying time was decreased. Minimum drying time was related to the absolute pressure of 10 kPa. Effective moisture diffusivity of the pomegranate arils was estimated at the ranges of 3.09×10-10 to 4.13×10-10 m2/s. Total color changes and shrinkage percent of the pomegranate arils were estimated at the ranges of 17.4 to 22.1 and 67.58% to 74.45%, respectively.

In the present study, the drying kinetics of non-fat yoghurt with constant thickness of (2.2 mm) in a microwave-VACUUM DRYER to the power of (35, 130, and 260 W) as well as 5 absolute pressure levels (60, 200, 400, 600, and 800 mbar) were evaluated. To choose the best, also 12 experimental/ semi-theoretical and/or empirical thin-layer drying models were examined. Based on the findings of this study various ranges of microwave power affects drying time where by increasing the microwave power (from 35 to 260 W), drying time significantly decreases from 90 min to 15) which is (600%). However, no significant effects in drying time were observed when reduced the absolute pressure in the system. RMSE was picked to be the most suitable model when the comparison runs between Logistic, Middilli and coworkers models for it contained maximum R2 and minimum c2 so it could satisfactorily describe the drying kinetics of non-fat yoghurt. The effective moisture diffusivity was increased by increasing the microwave power from 4.42×10-10 to 2.83×10-9 m2s-1 while the pressure had zero effect on this value. In addition, the activation energy was calculated using the modified Arrhenius equation method.

Introduction: Edible Button Mushroom (Agaricusbisporus) is one of the crops that is widely used today as a food source. Mushrooms after harvesting due to high humidity, high respiration rate, lack of cuticle and severe enzymatic activity, with persistence and quickly than other vegetables rot and discoloration begins immediately after harvest. To increase shelf life, edible mushroom must undergo processing processes. Drying is one of the most common methods of processing and preserving edible mushrooms. VACUUM-infrared drying is conducted by lowering moisture at low pressure to improve the quality of the high nutritional value product. Since button mushrooms have many applications due to their high nutritional value and medicinal uses, the best drying mode should be chosen to have the least negative effect on the quality properties and ingredients of the powder. Materials and Methods: Fresh edible button mushroom After washing were cut by a cutter at 5 mm thickness and dried using a VACUUM-infrared DRYER at three temperature levels of 40, 55 and 70 ° C and three VACUUM pressure levels of 20, 40 and 60 kPa. Then the dried mushroom slices were milled and powdered using a mill machine for one minute. To homogenize the particle size, the button mushroom powder was sifted by a laboratory sieve with mesh No. 50 (cavity size 0. 5 mm). In this study, the effect of VACUUM-infrared drying variables including indoor air temperature and VACUUM pressure on the thermal properties (effective moisture diffusion coefficient and drying energy consumption) of button mushroom and chemical (total phenol content) and qualitative (color indices as Δ L *, Δ a * and Δ b*) button mushroom powders were studied. Statistical analysis of data and optimization of drying process were performed using response surface methodology and central composite design (CCD). After determining the optimum point of VACUUM-infrared DRYER, loose and compacted bulk density, work index, Hassner ratio, angle of repose, and button mushroom powder slides were measured at optimum point and Finally the flow-ability of the edible button mushroom powder was determined. Results and Discussion: The results showed that as the chamber temperature increased, the rate of evaporation of tissue moisture increased, which resulted in a decrease in the drying time of the edible button mushroom thin layers with VACUUM-infrared DRYER. Effective moisture diffusion coefficient of drying of edible button mushroom thin films ranging from 1. 8 ×10-9 m2/s (40 kPa pressure and temperature 40 ° C) to 8. 9×10-9 m2/s (20 kPa pressure and 70 ° C temperature) was varied. The results showed that the air temperature of the drying chamber had a positive effect on the effective moisture diffusion coefficient. This is because increasing energy and heat consumption increased the activity of water molecules and, as a result, more moisture penetrated outside the product at higher temperatures. The maximum amount of specific energy consumption was 1269. 73 MJ/kg (60 kPa pressure and 40 ° C) and the lowest amount was 408. 36 MJ/kg (40 kPa pressure and 70 ° C). The results showed that at constant pressure with increasing temperature, as the drying time decreased sharply, the amount of specific energy consumption also decreased. The phenolic content of button mushroom powder was in the range of 270 mg/g (20 kPa pressure and 40 ° C) and 1. 3 mg/g (40 kPa pressure and 70 ° C). As the temperature increased, the total phenol content decreased. The results showed that increasing the temperature caused a greater difference between the color indices of L*, a * and b* of button mushroom powder than fresh mushroom. Increase in temperature caused more darkening (decrease in L* index), decrease in redness (decrease in index a*) and decrease in yellowness (decrease in index b*) of mushroom powder. In general, color indices were closer to the values of fresh fungal samples at low temperatures. The optimum drying point of button mushroom was obtained at 40° C and VACUUM pressure of 40. 823 kPa. The optimum value of the independent variables including effective moisture diffusion coefficient, specific drying energy consumption, total phenol content and final color indices of edible button mushroom Δ L*, Δ a* and Δ b* were 3. 06×10-9 m2/s, 1088 MJ/kg, 2. 76 mg/g, 15. 28, 2. 55 and 9. 26, respectively. The results showed that drying under lower temperature and medium VACUUM pressure increased the desirability index. The flow-ability of edible button mushroom powder was reported to be good. Conclusion: According to the results of drying tests of edible mushrooms, the following results of this study are obtained in infrared VACUUM drying: 1-The effect of air temperature on all variables of button mushroom response was significant in VACUUM-infrared DRYER. 2-The air inlet temperature to the DRYER had a negative effect on the specific energy consumption of the drying process and the total phenol content of the button mushroom powder. 3-Increase in air temperature caused a greater difference between the color indices of L*, a* and b* button mushroom powder than fresh mushrooms. 4. The results showed that drying under mild conditions (lower temperature and medium VACUUM pressure) increased the desirability index. 5-Flow-ability of edible button mushroom powder was reported to be good.

Pistachio plays an important role as exportation of Iran. The method of drying process has a remarkable influence on the quality of dried products. There are various methods for drying pistachio; however, choosing a suitable method of drying depends on reliability, healthiness and rapids. In current research, the effect of temperature in three levels of 40, 50 and 60°C and rotational speed of the DRYER agitator in three levels of 5, 10 and 15rpm on reduction rate of drying period and drying kinetics of a common Iranian pistachio (Kalleh Ghoochi v.), in a new intelligent- VACUUM rotary DRYER, was investigated. This DRYER was consisted of a cylindrical chamber and a twin electrical heater which dried products in a VACUUM medium. The experimental data was analyzed in a statistical software "SPSS 10" In accordance with the results, temperature and rotational speed of the agitator had a significant effect on drying period. When temperature and speed were 60°C and 15rpm respectively, drying period was short and equaled 185 min, but in temperature of 40°C and speed of 5rpm, drying period was long and equaled 325 min. Increasing the temperature also increased the rate of drying significantly. Results indicated that increasing temperature from 40°C to 50°C caused 25% decrease in the drying period and increasing temperature from 40°C to 60°C caused 39% decrease in drying period.

Background and Objective: In the recent years, the application of microwave–VACUUM drying as a novel, effective, and low-cost method for dehydration of various foods has been investigated. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to evaluate the potential of this method in drying sour cherry, as well as to select an appropriate mathematical model for describing its drying kinetics.Materials and Methods: The experimental drying trials were performed at 4 nominal microwave power levels (360, 600, 840, and 1200 Watts) and 4 absolute pressures (200, 400, 600, and 800 mbar) using a microwave-VACUUM DRYER designed in our laboratory. The drying parameters were determined as functions of absolute pressure and microwave power. Moreover, the fitting rates of experimental data with seven semi-theoretical and empirical models based on R2, c2 and RMSE values were determined and the most appropriate mathematical model was selected.Results: The findings showed that the microwave power and the VACUUM level play the major role in the drying rate of sour cherry, such that increasing microwave power and decreasing the drying chamber pressure reduce the drying time significantly. Moreover, the drying process occurred in the falling rate period. Comparison of different models showed that the Middili and co-workers model can be the most suitable model due to its having the highest R2 and lowest c2, RMSE values.Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate that the drying process of sour cherry does not show any constant drying rate during dehydration using a microwave-VACUUM DRYER. Thus, microwave-VACUUM drying has a high potential for dehydration of sour cherry and other food and agricultural products due to high efficiency and reasonably short processing times.

Drying is one of the oldest methods to preserve agricultural products and hence expanding the food market. By drying, the agricultural products can be stored and transferred to the market throughout the year. One of the most important and nutritious vegetables is turnip which can be used by drying in out of season. In this research, the hot air and VACUUM drying methods of turnip were compared. The effect of independent factors including temperature and VACUUM, on dependent factors such as the shrinkage, rehydration and rate of electric energy consumption on final products of turnip were investigated. A randomized completely design for hot air DRYER and a factorial experiment based on completely randomized design for drying under VACUUM condition were used. Results showed that the temperature and VACUUM have affected the shrinkage, rehydration and electricity consumption. Shrinkage parameter is more depend on the final humidity of product and the energy consumption of the devices depends on time. The best quality of dried turnip was achieved from hot air drying device with final humidity of 14±1%, shrinkage of 39.98%, rehydration of 4.45 and consumed electricity of 32.36 kWh kg-1 of DM in 60oC. For the VACUUM drying device the best quality of produce achieved with shrinkage of 38.12%, rehydration of 4.87 and consumed electricity of 30.58 kWh kg-1 of DM in VACUUM condition of 10 kPa in 60oC. Comparison of results showed that the VACUUM DRYER is more appropriate than the hot air DRYERs for drying turnip with better quality and lower power consumption.

In this study, the kinetic and quality parameters of apple chips dried by a novel DRYER equipped with two-way infrared heating (180, 275, and 325 W) and VACUUM pump systems (100 and 400 mmHg) were investigated. The final drying time of the sample was reduced with the increasing infrared power. However, it significantly decreased with the increasing VACUUM pressure at only 180 W. While the rehydration ratio and sugar content decreased at higher infrared power, the degree of browning and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural increased. Apple chips had high HMF contents (205.39-351.30 mg/kg DM). After sensory evaluation, the highest color, crispness, chewiness, taste, and general acceptance values were determined in the apple chips dried at 275 W and 400 mmHg. The results showed that Midilli’s model was the best option to describe the experimental drying data. The effective moisture diffusivity increased with increasing power and ranged from 1.4499 to 2.9362 × 10−8 m2/s. The activation energies of drying kinetics for 100 and 400 mmHg were 40.5507 and 36.5134 kJ/mol, respectively. Results showed that the higher energy efficiency and product quality for apple chips could be obtained with a specially designed infrared VACUUM combined DRYER (275 W and 400 mmHg).