Comparative study of vacuum drying as an environmentally friendly technology on different types of mango: Drying kinetics, modeling, physical, and thermal properties

Abstract

The objective of this study was to identify the characteristics of mangoes during vacuum drying, including drying kinetics, modeling, physical properties, and thermal properties. Drying was performed using vacuum technology at temperatures of 40–60 °C. In addition, this study investigated the differences between mango varieties (Mana - lagi and Harum Manis) using a combination of pretreatments, namely blanching and soaking in an antibrown - ing agent. The percentage of water loss and weight reduction were 68.9–86.3% and 78.6–86.3%, respectively. The mass ratio and moisture ratio decreased as the drying process progressed. The drying rate for mangoes was 4.1–5.3 %wb/h. Moisture diffusivity ranged from 5.04 × 10⁻⁷ to 1.09 × 10⁻⁶ m²/s. Thermal properties ranged from 0.07–0.09 W/m·K (thermal conductivity) to 1495.9–1916.4 J/kg °C (specific heat). The Wang-Singh model and the Diffusion Approach emerged as the best models based on statistical analysis criteria. The Harum Manis mango variety demonstrated superior performance across all experimental parameters compared to the Manalagi variety. The practical significance of this study is to provide information on vacuum drying of mangoes to achieve optimal dry matter content, as well as modeling results to inform the future design of drying equipment.