The role of shrinkage on food isothermal drying: a moving boundary model

A moving-boundary model is proposed for describing food isothermal drying. The key point lies in the introduction of a point wise shrinkage velocity equal and opposite in sign to the water diffusive flux times a shrinkage factor representing the fingerprint of the food material under investigation. The model provides good results in terms of prediction of time evolution of moisture content and sample volume and furnishes an accurate and reliable estimate of water diffusivity at different operating temperatures