Modelling of the Drying Kinetics of Opuntia Ficus Indica Fruits and Cladodes

The effect of the drying rates of fruit and cladode of Opuntia Ficus Indica was examined at different temperatures. The experimental drying curves show only a falling drying rate period. The values of drying rate of prickly pear (fruit and cladode) almost doubled when the drying temperature was increased from 40 to 60°C. The experimental drying data were applied to various drying equation (Logarithmic; Wang and Singh, Henderson and Pabis, MMF model and Midilli equation). Midilli equation was optimal for characterizing drying behaviour of prickly pear for the whole range of temperature with a correlation coefficient of 99.99% for the fruit and the cladode and a standard error of 0.0015 for the fruit and 0.0017 for the cladode.