Moisture profiles in cheese drying determined by TD-NMR: Mathematical modeling of mass transfer

[EN] A time-domain nuclear magnetic resonance (TD-NMR) method is proposed to quick and easily determine moisture profiles during cheese drying. The method consists of a combined relaxation analysis, where the magnetization at a certain time is determined by both the longitudinal and the transverse NMR relaxation processes. The drying experiments were carried out at 16 °C and 0.2-0.5 m/s for 32 days, and allowing only one-direction mass transfer. A diffusion model was formulated taking into account the external resistance to mass transfer. Both effective moisture diffusivity and external mass transfer coefficient were simultaneously identified (3.71 × 10 -11 m 2/s and 2.95 × 10 -8 m/s, respectively). The proposed model allowed a satisfactory simulation of both the drying curve (mean relative error (MRE) = 0.4% and percentage of explained variance (%var) = 99.7%) and the moisture profiles (average MRE = 4.4% and %var = 94.5%). © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support provided by the Government of Spain through the MEC (AP-2005-4847) and the MECI (AGL2006-14146-C02-02).Castell Palou, A.; Rossello, C.; Femenia, A.; Bon Corbín, J.; Simal, S. (2011). Moisture profiles in cheese drying determined by TD-NMR: Mathematical modeling of mass transfer. Journal of Food Engineering. 104(4):525-531. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2011.01.010525531104