Comparative Evaluation of the Effects of Electrohydrodynamic, Oven, and Ambient Air on Carrot Cylindrical Slices during Drying Process

Abstract

Electrohydrodynamic (EHD) drying is a novel method of nonthermal drying. A corona discharge using multiple electrodes and a high-voltage electric field of 5.2 kV · cm⁻¹ was produced to investigate the drying enhancement of carrot slices and its effect on color and shrinkage. The EHD setup consisted of 13 stainless steel needle points connected to a DC power supply and a stainless steel plate. EHD⁺ drying, EHD⁻ drying, oven drying at 55°C, and ambient air drying control at 25°C for 5 h resulted in 79.5, 77.7, 77, and 22.5% total moisture removal from the fresh carrot slices, respectively. The final shrinkage of the EHD^± drying was less than that of oven drying but was higher than that of ambient air drying. It was estimated that the energy consumption of oven drying was several times greater than those of EHD^± drying. The conventional drying processes changed all color parameters, whereas the color for EHD^±dried samples remained almost the same. The carrot slices’ temperature during drying by EHD^± was significantly less than that of those dried by oven and ambient air drying.