Modeling of High Velocity Hot Air-Recirculatory Tray Drying of Sweet Pepper using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Response Surface Methodology (RSM)

Modeling of high velocity hot air recirculatory tray drying of treated and untreated sweet pepper slices were carried out using artificial neural network and response surface methodology. Drying air temperature, drying air velocity and slice sizes were considered as the independent variables where drying rate, moisture ratio during drying, the rehydration ratio and sensory quality of the dried slices were measured as the dependent variables. The models obtained were compared and it was observed the ANN model was best suited to predict the dependent responses as compared to the RSM model.