ناصر بهروزی خزاعی

Moisture diffusivity (Dem), mass transfer coefficient (hm), activation energy and drying kinetics of the dill leaves were studied and modeled as a function of temperature (40–70°C) and moisture content (0.20–5.67kg water/kg dry matter). Results showed that the Dem and hm significantly depend on the temperature and moisture content (p < 0.05). The average of Dem and hm varied between 4.02 × 10–9 to 9.65 × 10–9 m2/s, and 2.38 × 10–7 to 6.33 × 10–7 m/s, respectively. Activation energy showed a significant dependence on the moisture content and estimated as 16.84 kJ/mol for diffusion model and 28.70 kJ/mol for mass transfer model. Out of the six models considered, the logarithmic model showed the best fit to drying behavior of the dill leaves.