Based on meteorological data of mean monthly values of ambient temperature, wind speed, and global solar radiation, which were 22.2oC, 3.64 m/s, and 206 W/m2 respectively, an indirect solar dryer was designed, fabricated, and evaluated in an attempt to reduce post-harvest losses of tomato that gluts in Mubi, Adamawa State, Nigeria, from August to October each year. The projected dryer has a solar collector inclined at an angle of 20.26oC to the horizontal, with an air mass-flow rate of 3.106 X 10-3 kg/s and an overall mean drying rate of 0.140 kg/h. It also had a 0.115 m3/s air volumetric flow rate and 0.065m thick lagging material. During the study months, the dryer determined that drying tomatoes from a postharvest moisture content of 95.6 percent (d.b) to a storage moisture content of 15.8 percent (d.b) took 50.8 hours (d.b). More research is needed to determine the effects of incorporating an additional source of heat or a heat reservoir to ensure day and night drying, which will improve the drying rate and, as a result, reduce drying time, following the development and evaluation of tomato-fruit dryers in other parts of the world. Tomato colour, firmness, flavour, nutritional value, and safety are all affected by the composition of the fruit at harvest and changes in composition during postharvest processing.
Author (S) Details
Bashir Aliyu
Department of Agricultural & Environmental Engineering, Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola, Adamawa, Nigeria.
E. K. Bwade
Department of Agricultural & Bio-Environmental Engineering Technology, Federal Polytechnic, Mubi, Adamawa, Nigeria.
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