The Influence of Drying Temperatures and Methods on the Drying Characteristics of ‘IkanBakar’ Paste

Drying is one of the popular preservation methods in food products. This work was done to investigate the influence of the drying temperatures and methods on the drying characteristics of ‘ikanbakar’ paste. The ‘ikanbakar’ paste was dried by using oven drying and vacuum drying methods at temperatures of 50°C, 60°C and 70°C. The drying rate was estimated from the moisture content and drying time data. The drying curve showed the falling rate period as the drying rate decreased with increasing time. For colour analysis of the paste, the L* values from the oven drying method were lower than those from the vacuum drying method, ranging from 7.4210 to 7.2752. This showed that the colour of paste from oven drying was darker than vacuum drying. The mathematical models used to describe the drying curve of ‘ikanbakar’ paste were Lewis, Page, Two-term, and Midilliet. al. model. The performance of these models was evaluated by comparing their root mean square error (RSME) and chi-square (X²) values, and it was found that the most suitable model was the Two-term model. There were insignificant differences between the effective moisture diffusivity (Deff) values for the ‘ikanbakar’ paste in both drying methods