OPTIMIZATION OF DRYER PROCESS PARAMETERS FOR IVY GOURD DRYING USING RESPONSE SURFACE METHODOLOGY

The current research examines drying process parameters for ivy gourd slices since it is a good source of iron, vitamin C, protein, and fibre. The considerable effect on drying of ivy gourd using different tray perforations like oval, circular, and hexagonal at different process parameters, namely air temperature (40 °C, 50 °C, and 60 °C), air velocity (0.5 m/s, 1 m/s, and 1.5 m/s), time variation (20 minutes, 30 minutes, and 40 minutes) and thickness of slice (2 mm, 4 mm, and 6 mm). On experimentation, the optimum conditions were found in oval tray perforation at drying temperature 60 °C, slice thickness 2 mm, drying time 20 minutes and air velocity 0.5 m/s. At these optimum conditions, moisture content was found to be 1.76. additionally, response surface methodology is utilized to optimize drying parameters on moisture content. Verification of these experimental values with the empirical model is assessed with the help of correlation coefficient, R^2, which was estimated to be 0.993. A significant effect of drying vegetables can be seen in their nutritional content. From the performed analysis an increased nutrition retention was observed.