Impact of Drying Process on Grindability and Physicochemical Properties of Celery
Stanisław Rudy,
Dariusz Dziki,
Beata Biernacka,
Renata Polak,
Andrzej Krzykowski,
Anna Krajewska,
Renata Stanisławczyk,
Mariusz Rudy,
Jagoda Żurek,
Grzegorz Rudzki
Affiliations
Stanisław Rudy
Department of Thermal Technology and Food Process Engineering, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Głęboka St. 31, 20-612 Lublin, Poland
Dariusz Dziki
Department of Thermal Technology and Food Process Engineering, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Głęboka St. 31, 20-612 Lublin, Poland
Beata Biernacka
Department of Thermal Technology and Food Process Engineering, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Głęboka St. 31, 20-612 Lublin, Poland
Renata Polak
Department of Thermal Technology and Food Process Engineering, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Głęboka St. 31, 20-612 Lublin, Poland
Andrzej Krzykowski
Department of Thermal Technology and Food Process Engineering, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Głęboka St. 31, 20-612 Lublin, Poland
Anna Krajewska
Department of Thermal Technology and Food Process Engineering, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Głęboka St. 31, 20-612 Lublin, Poland
Renata Stanisławczyk
Department of Agricultural Processing and Commodity Science, Institute of Food and Nutrition Technology, College of Natural Sciences, University of Rzeszow, Zelwerowicza St. 4, 35-601 Rzeszów, Poland
Mariusz Rudy
Department of Agricultural Processing and Commodity Science, Institute of Food and Nutrition Technology, College of Natural Sciences, University of Rzeszow, Zelwerowicza St. 4, 35-601 Rzeszów, Poland
Jagoda Żurek
Department of Financial Markets and Public Finance, Institute of Economics and Finance, College of Social Sciences, University of Rzeszow, Ćwiklińskiej 2, 35-601 Rzeszów, Poland
Grzegorz Rudzki
Department of Endocrinology, Diabetology, and Metabolic Diseases, Medical University of Lublin, Jaczewski St. 8, 20-090 Lublin, Poland
The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of various drying methods: freeze drying, vacuum drying, convection drying, and convection-microwave drying at microwave powers of 50 W and 100 W, along with process temperatures (40 °C, 60 °C, and 80 °C), on the drying kinetics, selected physicochemical properties of dried celery stems, and their grindability. The Page model was employed to mathematically describe the drying kinetics across the entire measurement range. Convection-microwave drying significantly reduced the drying time compared to the other methods. The longest drying duration was observed with freeze drying at 40 °C. The product obtained through freeze drying at 40 °C exhibited the least alteration in color coordinates, the highest antioxidant capacity, and the greatest retention of chlorophylls and total carotenoids. At a specific temperature, the quality of the product obtained from vacuum drying was slightly lower compared to that from freeze drying. The most substantial changes in the physicochemical properties of the dried product were observed with convection-microwave drying at a microwave power of 100 W. The drying method selected had a significant impact on the energy consumption of grinding, average particle size, and the grinding energy index of the dried celery stems; these parameters worsened as the drying temperature increased. The product with the best quality characteristics and disintegration parameters was achieved using freeze drying at 40 °C.
