Hidayatullah Bin Hj Hussein
Malaysian Cocoa Board Malaysia
Title: Drying kinetics and mechanical strength of wet fermented cocoa beans using the microwave laboratory dryer
Biography
Biography: Hidayatullah Bin Hj Hussein
Abstract
Drying procedure of wet fermented cocoa beans was carried out using a specially fabricated microwave laboratory dryer. Fermented cocoa beans normally contain between 50 to 55% moisture and need to be dried to 6 to 8% (wet basis, wb) moisture levels for safe storage. Three levels of microwave power were used to dry the wet fermented cocoa beans. The moisture content of the beans was found to decrease rapidly. The increase in microwave power resulted in the increase drying rate of the cocoa beans. The experimental drying data were fitted to seven different theoretical drying models to predict the drying kinetics. Logarithmic model was found to be the best in describing the microwave drying characteristics of wet fermented cocoa beans with R2 > 0.9958. The characteristics of the drying curve of the wet fermented cocoa beans for each microwave power level were compared between the experimental and the predicted model. The mechanical strength of the beans was found to be less when dried at higher microwave power.