Examining the Drying Procedures of Squash and Comparing Experimental Data with Existing Models

This research analysis aims to provide an in-depth understanding of the moisture reduction and rate of drying in squash when subjected to a convective drying process. For this purpose, we employed a universal convective drying unit, specifically the SHS-80-01 SPU model. A central objective of this analysis was to ascertain the most effective operating conditions for drying squash, thereby providing valuable insights for both academic research and industrial applications. The experimental design was meticulously planned to test a range of key variables. These included varying temperature settings of 55°C, 65°C, and 75°C, as well as diverse squash slice thicknesses of 3 mm, 4 mm, and 5 mm. By doing so, we aimed to understand how these factors individually and collectively influence the drying process. To validate our experimental results, we compared them with several existing drying models from the literature. After applying statistical tests for goodness-of-fit, we found that the selected models were indeed highly compatible with our data. This compatibility demonstrates that these models are well-suited for simulating and describing the drying behavior of squash.