Energy Nexus (Sep 2023)
Development of drying system by using internet of things for food quality monitoring and controlling
Abstract
One of the essential aspects in managing food safety is the drying, which helps to preserve food quality and extend the shelf life of food products. The temperature, relative humidity (RH), and air velocity in dryers should be carefully monitored and maintained to ensure food quality and safety during the drying process. Also, the components of heat pump dryers are at risk due to the electric current, the high temperature surrounding the condensing unit's compressor, and the high air velocity of the drying environment. These elements affect the quality of the foods being dried, and being able to communicate alerts in real-time is essential for taking precautions against hazards that can damage the dryer's internal components. Food technology's IoT-based control (IoT-BC) system with multipurpose sensors offers options for managing the post-harvest quality of leaves as they are being dried. This study set out to design and evaluates an IoT-BC system in order to remotely control, alert of imminent hazards, and monitor the microclimate parameters, including RH, temperature, and air velocity. The impacts of the created IoT-based drying system on the quality of dried leafy vegetables were also investigated utilizing a unique dryer as a case study. The results showed that the created IoT-BC system accurately maintained the drying environment, provided reliable data about the internal microclimate atmosphere of the dryer, and provided the appropriate alarm in case of an emergency and this was based on real-time data analyses. The most important quality characteristics for dried leaves were not significantly different between the IoT-based dryer and the conventional dryer dependant on drying time. Rehydration capacity decreased with the increase in the drying air temperature from 40 to 70 °C and was maximum (6.48) at 40 °C for coriander leaves and maximum (5.59) at 40 °C for Mint leaves dried in IoT based dryer. Maximum crude fibre and protein contents for mint leaves dried in an IoT-based drier were at 40 °C and were 4.97 mg/100 g and 10.62 mg/100 g, respectively. Maximum crude fibre and protein contents for coriander leaves dried in this method were 3.76 mg/100 g and 12.23 mg/100 g, respectively. The IoT based dryer kept the leaves' superior qualities throughout the drying process as a result.
