The drying kinetics of apricots undergo steam blanching in a microwave oven

This study aims to determine the influence of drying apricots undergoing a steam blanching treatment by microwave oven at different powers (200, 400 and 800 W). In order to market a product of good nutritional quality (sugar content, polyphenol content and mineral salt content), limit the imports of dried fruit abroad, encourage local products, increase the shelf life of the studied fruit and obtain apricot-based foodstuffs in four seasons. The drying process was carried out between 270 and 510 s, depending on the power level of the microwave oven. Several literature models are used to simulate the drying kinetics of dried apricots. The modified Henderson & Pabis and Henderson-Pabis models were considered to be the best experimental drying curves for apricots undergo steam blanching.