Ripe mango drying using solar-PV hybrid dryer

Abstract

This research proposed pv-hybrid solar dryer for small community enterprise that includes the principle of energy conservation using hot air recycle. The dryer was used to dry slices of mangos varieties “Nam Dok Mai” with initial moisture contents of 439.9-442.7% dry basis (d.b.). The proposed dryer was compared with traditional solar dryer. The final moisture content of both varieties of mango’s slides was set at 14 %d.b. The experimental results showed that recycling 80% hot air from the beginning of drying process delayed drying time, while recycling 80% hot air after the first day of drying shortened drying time. The pv-hybrid solar dryer dried “Nam Dok Mai” mango’s slides faster than the traditional dryer approximately 19 hours. The total color change (compared with fresh mango), hardness and adhesiveness of the mango dried by the pv-hybrid solar dryer were less than those dried by the traditional dryer. The water activity of dried mangoes from both dryers was less than 0.6 and safe for storage.