Journal of Food Engineering 69 (2005) 161165

www.elsevier.com/locate/jfoodeng

Drying behaviour of green beans

_
Ibrahim
Doymaz

Department of Chemical Engineering, Yildiz Technical University, 34210 Esenler, Istanbul, Turkey
Received 18 February 2004; accepted 5 August 2004

Abstract
This paper presents the thin layer drying experiments and mathematical modelling of green bean grown in Iskenderun, Turkey.
Drying characteristics of green bean were examined for average moisture content from 90.53 0.5% to 14 0.3% using hot air of
the temperature range of 5070
C. The results have shown that, increasing the drying air temperature causes shorter drying times.
The experimental drying curves obtained were tted to a number of semi-theoretical models, namely Handerson and Pabis, Lewis
and Page models. Comparing the determination of coecient, reduced chi-square and root mean square error values of three models, it was concluded that the Page model represents drying characteristics better than the others. The eective diusivity coecient
of moisture transfer varied from 2.641 10
9 to 5.711 10
9 m2/s over the temperature range. The temperature dependence of the
diusivity coecients was described by Arrhenius type relationship. The activation energy for moisture diusion was found to be
35.43 kJ/mol.
 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Drying of green bean; Drying rate; Modelling; Moisture diusivity

1. Introduction
Drying can be described as an industrial preservation
method in which water content and activity of fruits and
vegetables are decreased by heated air to minimize biochemical, chemical and microbiological deterioration.
(Doymaz & Pala, 2003). The major objective in drying
agricultural products is the reduction of the moisture
content to a level, which allows safe storage over an extended period. Also, it brings about substantial reduction in weight and volume, minimizing packaging,
storage and transportation costs (Mujumdar, 1995;
Okos, Narsimhan, Singh, & Witnauer, 1992).
The most common drying method for fruits and vegetables in the world and Turkey is open air-sun drying.
However, this drying technique has some disadvantages
like the slowness of the process, the exposure to environmental contamination, and the hand labour require*

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E-mail address: doymaz@yildiz.edu.tr

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doi:10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2004.08.009

ment. Furthermore, direct exposure to solar radiation

results in desired colour changes. There is also quality
of the dried products may be lowered signicantly.
Therefore, using solar and hot air dryers, which are
far more rapid, providing uniformity and hygiene, are
inevitable for industrial food drying processes (Doymaz
& Pala, 2002; Karathanos & Belessiotis, 1997).
The study of drying behaviour of various vegetables
has been subject of interest of dierent researchers.
There have been many studies on the drying behaviour
of various vegetables such as soybeans and white beans
(Hutchinson & Otten, 1983; Kitic & Viollaz, 1984),
green beans (Senadeera, Bhandari, Young, & Wijesinghe, 2003), red pepper (Akpinar, Bicer, & Yildiz,
2003; Doymaz & Pala, 2002), carrot (Doymaz, 2004),
eggplant (Ertekin & Yaldiz, 2004), and pumpkin, green
pepper, stued pepper, green bean and onion (Yaldiz &
Ertekin, 2001).
Many various types of vegetables have been produced
in Turkey because of its suitable climate. Greens bean
is cultivated widely in Turkey and consumed as fresh,

162

_ Doymaz / Journal of Food Engineering 69 (2005) 161165

I.

Nomenclature
a, k, y constants in models
De
eective diusivity coecient (m2/s)
D0
pre-exponential factor of Arrhenius equation
(m2/s)
Ea
activation energy (kJ/mol)
L
half-thickness of slab (m)
M
moisture content (kg moisture/kg dry matter)
Me
equilibrium moisture content (kg moisture/kg
dry matter)

freezed, canned and dried. In 2002, Turkey produced

about 469,375 ton of green bean (FAO, 2003). The aims
of the present study are
to study the eect of temperature on air drying kinetics of the green bean samples,
to calculate the diusivity coecients and activation
energy of the samples,
to t the drying curves with three mathematical
models.

M0
N
n
R
R2
T
t
z

initial moisture content (kg moisture/kg dry

matter)
number of observation
positive integer
universal gas constant (kJ/mol K)
determination of coecient
air temperature (
C)
drying time (min)
number of constants

The Page model is an empirical modication of the

Lewis model to correct for its shortcomings. This model
was also used to t the experimental data of soybean,
white bean, green bean and corn (Doymaz & Pala,
2003; Hutchinson & Otten, 1983; Yaldiz & Ertekin,
2001). The model is given as
MR exp
kty

where k and y are constants of model.

1.2. The statistical modelling procedure

1.1. Mathematical modelling

Mathematical modelling has been widely and eectively used for analysis of drying of agricultural products. Many mathematical models have described the
drying process, of them thin layer drying models have
been widely in use. These models fall into the three categories, namely theoretical, semi-theoretical and empirical. Among semi-theoretical thin layer drying models,
namely the Handerson and Pabis model, the Lewis model and the Page model are used widely. These models are
generally derived by simplifying general series solution
of Ficks second law. The Henderson and Pabis model
is the rst term of a general series solution of Ficks second law. This model was used successfully to model drying of corn (Henderson & Pabis, 1961). This can be
written as
MR a exp
kt

where dimensionless moisture ratio, MR = M
Me/

M0
Me; M is the moisture content at any time, M0
is the initial moisture content, Me is the equilibrium
moisture content, a and k are constants of model and
t is time.
The Lewis model is a special case of the Henderson
and Pabis model where intercept is unity. It was used
to describe drying of black tea (Panchariya, Popovic,
& Sharma, 2002).
MR exp
kt
where k is constant of model.

The non-regression analysis was performed using the

STATISTICA computer program and was based on the
LevenbergMarquardt algorithm. The Henderson and
Pabis model, the Lewis model and the Page model were
tted to the experimental drying data. Determination of
coecient (R2), the reduced chi-square (v2) and root
mean square error (RMSE) were used as criteria for adequacy of t. The best model describing the thin layer drying characteristics of green bean samples was chosen as
the one with the highest determination of coecient
and the least reduced chi-square and root mean square error (Ozdemir & Devres, 1999; Ertekin & Yaldiz, 2004).
These parameters can be described in Eqs. (4) and (5) as
PN
2
MRexp;i
MRpre;i
v2 i1
4
N
z
"
#1=2
N
1 X
2
RMSE
MRpre;i
MRexp;i
5
N i1
where MRexp,i is the experimental moisture ratio,
MRpre,i is the predicted moisture ratio, N is the number
of observations and z is number of constants.

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Materials and apparatus
Fresh green bean samples (var. Phaselus vulgaris L.)
were purchased from a farm in Iskenderun and stored

_ Doymaz / Journal of Food Engineering 69 (2005) 161165

I.
0.8
50C
60C

Drying rate (g water/min)

34
C for about one day for equilibration of moisture

and then used for experiments. Average diameter of
beans samples was measured as 1.62 0.1 cm. Samples
washed and cut top and bottom parts of its and cut in
the form of slices of 4 0.1 cm length with a knife.
The average moisture content of the bean sample was
about 90.53 0.5% (on a wet weight basis), as determined by vacuum drying at 70
C for 24 h (AOAC,
1990).

163

70C

0.6

0.4

0.2

2.2. Drying experiments

Drying experiments were performed in a cabinet laboratory scale hot air dryer, described previously by
Doymaz (2004). The air drying temperatures were 50,
60 and 70
C and the corresponding relative humidities
25%, 15% and 8%. The relative humidity of air was
determined using wet and dry bulb temperatures obtained from the psychrometric chart. Air velocity was
measured with a Testo 440 vane probe anemometer
(Lutron, Taiwan). It was kept at constant value of
1.0 m/s for all drying experiments. Air owed perpendicular to drying surfaces of the samples. Drying process started when drying conditions were achieved
constant air temperatures. The green beans samples
were placed on a tray in a single layer and the measurement started from this point. Experiments were conducted with 125 0.3 g of green beans. Weight loss of
samples was measured by means of a load cell (REVERE SHBXM) in 30 min intervals. The samples were
dried until moisture content reached approximately
14 0.3% (w/w). The product was cooled and packed
in low density polyethylene (LDPE) bags, which were
sealed with heat. The experiments were carried out in
triplicate and average values are reported. The drying
data from the dierent drying runs were expressed as
drying rate versus drying time and moisture ratio versus drying time.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Drying curves
Drying rate is dened as the amount of water removed and time is shown in Fig. 1 for bean samples during thin layer drying at 50, 60 and 70
C. It is apparent
that drying rate decreases continuously with improving
drying time. In this curves, there was not constant-rate
period but it seen to occur the falling-rate period. The
results indicated that diusion is the most likely physical
mechanism governing moisture movement in the bean
samples. The results were generally in agreement with
some literature studies on drying of various food products (Madamba, Driscoll, & Buckle, 1996; Senadeera
et al., 2003; Yaldiz & Ertekin, 2001).

0
0

100

200

300

400

500

600

Time (min)

Fig. 1. Drying rate curves for green beans at selected temperatures

with 1.0 m/s air velocity.

As expected from Fig. 1, increasing the air temperature increases the drying rate (consequently decreases
drying time). The experimental results were showed that
air temperature is considered as the most important factor aected drying rate. Dierent authors reported similar results on drying of vegetables (Hatamipour &
Mowla, 2003; Hutchinson & Otten, 1983).
3.2. Modelling of the thin-layer drying characteristics
Experimental results of moisture ratio with drying
time were tted to three semi-theoretical models, namely
the Henderson and Pabis (Eq. (1)), the Lewis model (Eq.
(2)) and the Page model (Eq. (3)). The models were evaluated based on R2, v2 and RMSE (Ertekin & Yaldiz,
2004; Ozdemir & Devres, 1999). These curve tting criteria for the there models were shown in Table 1. In all
cases, R2 values were greater than 0.90, indicating a
good t (Madamba et al., 1996). The Page model was
the best descriptive model as shown in Table 1. Generally, R2, v2 and RMSE values were varied between
0.99920.9994, 0.000070.00018 and 0.018680.04092,
respectively. Hence, the Page model gave better prediction than other models, and satisfactorily described drying characteristics of green beans. Variation of
experimental and predicted moisture ratio by Page model with drying time are shown in Fig. 2. As can be observed in this gure, good agreement between the
former variables is observed. Similar ndings were reported by Senadeera et al. (2003) for green bean drying
and Doymaz (2004) for carrot drying.
3.3. Determination of the eective diusivity coecients
The experimental drying data for the determination
of diusivity coecients were interpreted by using Ficks
second diusion model.

_ Doymaz / Journal of Food Engineering 69 (2005) 161165

I.

164

Table 1
Curve tting criteria for the thin layer drying models for drying of green beans
Temperature (
C)

Models and constants

R2

v2

RMSE

50

Handerson and Pabis (a: 1.0372, k: 0.0056)

Lewis (k: 0.0054)
Page (k: 0.0023, y: 1.1531)

0.9971
0.9963
0.9992

0.00056
0.00069
0.00014

0.08592
0.10088
0.04092

60

Handerson and Pabis (a: 1.0555, k: 0.0079)

Lewis (k: 0.0075)
Page (k: 0.0017, y: 1.2893)

0.9928
0.9908
0.9992

0.00169
0.00198
0.00018

0.12171
0.13587
0.03224

70

Handerson and Pabis (a: 1.0689, b: 0.0106)

Lewis (k: 0.0100)
Page (k: 0.0013, y: 1.4318)

0.9769
0.9709
0.9994

0.00325
0.00365
0.00007

0.15056
0.15683
0.01868

6.0E-09

1.0
50C
60C
70C
Page model

Effective diffusivity (Deff )

Moisture ratio

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

5.0E-09
2

R = 0.996

4.0E-09

3.0E-09

2.0E-09

1.0E-09

0.0
0

100

200

300
400
Time (min)

500

40

600

k0
6

For a thin layer the solution of Eq. (6), with assumptions of moisture migrating only by diusion, negligible
shrinkage, constant temperature and diusivity coecients and long drying times, are given below (Crank,
1975):
M
Me
M0
Me
!
2
1
8 X
1
2n
1 p2 Deff t
2
exp

p n1 2n
12
4L2

MR

60
70
Temperature (C)

80

Fig. 3. Air temperature eect on the eective diusivity.

Fig. 2. Variation of experimental and predicted moisture ratio by Page

model with drying time at selected temperatures and 1.0 m/s air
velocity.

 2 
oM
oM
Deff
ot
ox2

50

p2 Deff
4L2

The eective diusivity is derived from the slope. Calculated values of De for dierent temperatures are given
in Fig. 3. The De of green beans were 2.641 10
9,
4.012 10
9 and 5.711 10
9 m2/s at 50, 60 and 70
C,
respectively. The values lie within the general range of
10
1110
9 m2/s for food materials (Madamba et al.,
1996). It can be seen that the values of De increased
greatly with increasing temperature. Drying at 70
C
gave the highest De value. Similar variations were also
observed during drying of garlic (Madamba et al., 1996),
drying of carrot (Doymaz, 2004) and drying of green
bean (Rosello, Simal, SanJuan, & Mulet, 1997).

where, De is the eective diusivity coecient (m2/s); L

is the half-thickness of the slab (m) and n is the positive
integer. Simplifying Eq. (7) by taking only rst term of
series solution gives (Afzal & Abe, 1998)
 2

8
p Deff t
MR 2 exp

8
p
4L2

3.4. Activation energy

The slope (k0) is calculated by plotting ln(MR) versus

time according to Eq. (8).

where D0 is the pre-exponential factor of Arrhenius

equation (m2/s), Ea is the activation energy (kJ/mol), T

The dependence of the diusivity coecient on temperature is often given by an Arrhenius type equation
(Simal, Femena, Llull, & Rosello, 2000):


Ea
Deff D0 exp

10
RT 273:15

_ Doymaz / Journal of Food Engineering 69 (2005) 161165

I.

found as 35.43 kJ/mol. Pages empirical model showed

a good t curves than the Henderson and Pabis and
the Lewis models.

-18.8

-19.0

ln (Deff)

165

-19.2

References
-19.4

R = 0.999
-19.6

-19.8
0.0029

0.00295

0.003

0.00305

0.0031

0.00315

1/(T+273.15) (1/K)

Fig. 4. Arrhenius-type relationship between eective diusivity coefcient and temperature.

Table 2
Activation energy for drying of various vegetables
Vegetables

Ea (kJ/mol)

References

Green bean
Green bean
Soybean
Carrot

35.43
39.47
28.80
28.36

Present work
Senadeera et al. (2003)
Kitic and Viollaz (1984)
Doymaz (2004)

is temperature of air (
C) and R is the universal gas constant (kJ/mol K).
The calculated eective diusivities were plotted as a
function of the absolute air-drying temperature (Fig. 4).
The plot was found to be essentially a straight line in the
range of temperatures investigated, indicating Arrhenius
dependence. From the slope of the straight line described by the Arrhenius equation, the activation energy
was found to be 35.43 kJ/mol, where the Arrhenius factor (D0) was 5.53 10
4 m2/s. The comparative Ea values with other food products available in the literature
are indicated in Table 2. It is higher than the activation
energies of carrot drying (28.36 kJ/mol) (Doymaz, 2004)
and soybeans drying (28.80 kJ/mol) (Kitic & Viollaz,
1984) and lower than the activation energy of green
bean drying (39.47 kJ/mol) (Senadeera et al., 2003).

4. Conclusions
The inuence of drying air temperature in the range
of 5070
C and 1.0 m/s of air velocity for green beans
was studied. The values of calculated eective diusivity
coecients ranged from 2.641 10
9 to 5.711 10
9 m2/s.
The drying rate and eective diusivity increases with
air temperature increases (consequently drying time decreased). Temperature dependence of the diusivity
coecients was described by Arrhenius-type relationship. The activation energy for moisture diusion was

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