STUDY ON THE EFFECT OF DIFFERENT SHAPES OF POTATO SAMPLE ON INFRA-RED DRYING KINETICS AT DIFFERENT TEMPERATURES

Experiments on potato drying were carried out to study the effect of different shapes of potato sample (cubical, cylindrical and rectangular parallel piped) on drying time and final moisture content at different temperatures (60, 65, 70, 75 and 80 o C). Potato samples of all shapes had same specific area. The results revealed that drying rate increases and drying time decreases with increase in temperature for all shapes of potato samples studied. For same specific area, cylindrical shape samples took least drying time followed by rectangular and cubical to reach the same moisture level. Correlation equations were developed to predict the sample moisture content on dry basis at different times and temperatures.