Microwave Drying Characteristics and Kinetic Model of Cooked Sweet Potato Slice

In order to explore the microwave drying characteristics of cooked sweet potato slices(CSPS),and improve their dry product quality and drying efficiency,effects of different microwave power,loading and slice thickness on the microwave drying characteristics and energy consumption of the CSPS were investigated. The results showed that the microwave drying of CSPS could be divided into three stages:Acceleration,constant speed and deceleration. The microwave power and the loadings had a great influence on the drying of the CSPS. The larger the microwave power and the smaller the loading were,the faster the drying rate of the CSPS and the shorter the drying time were. The microwave drying process was fitted by four common thin-layer drying models. The results showed that the Page model was the most suitable thin-layer drying model for describing the change of moisture in the microwave drying process of cooked sweet potato slices. In the range of microwave power 200~600 W,loading 200~400 g,slice thickness 6~10 mm,the microwave drying energy consumption of cooked sweet potato chips was 2.8235~5.6289 kJ/g. The research results can provide reference for the microwave drying process of cooked sweet potato chips.