Development of a Low-Cost Diagnostic Tool to Assess the Sufficiency of Food Drying Processes in Developing Countries

Food drying reduces moisture content supporting microbial growth that contributes to food spoilage in developing countries. However, there is a lack of efficient low-cost tools to assess the sufficiency of food drying in small-scale operations in developing countries. Thus, a model was developed using a thermal imaging process to determine the moisture content of dried Royal Gala apples based on their cooling rate. Fitted regression curves showing absolute temperature versus cooling time were plotted for different wet basis moisture contents. The regression curve obtained for a safe range of moisture (9-11%) produced an equation with a higher constant and exponent than the curve for a potentially unsafe range (15-17%), showing the potential of this method. Further analysis is needed to evaluate the applicability of this method in other types of dried foods and conditions, as well as to explore the possibility to use the developed model in a mobile application.M.A.S