Microwave drying of fish, chicken and beef samples

In this study, the drying characteristics of fish, chicken and beef samples were investigated using microwave drying method. Each sample was dried using four different microwave powers of 90, 180, 270 and 360 W. Drying time decreased as microwave power increased. Fish fillets were dried in a shorter time than chicken and beef samples. The experimentally obtained data were fitted to seven drying models. The logarithmic and Midilli et al. models were found to be the most appropriate in describing microwave drying behavior of meat samples. Effective moisture diffusion coefficients were computed and found between 1.74 × 10-7 and 16.4 × 10-7 m2 s-1 for all the meat samples. The activation energies were found as 14.59 W/g, 79.147 W/g and 140.81 W/g, for chicken, fish and beef meat samples, respectively. The highest and lowest energy consumptions were found in the chicken drying process at 90 W (0.045 kWh) and fish drying process at 360 W (0.018 kWh), respectively. The microwave power level are the main factors affecting the color change of material during drying process, where the highest and the lowest ΔE is obtained t chicken and fish samples, respectively.