• Food Engineering Progress
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.42-48
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to verify the drying characteristics of steamed sweet potato and to establish optimal drying conditions for far-infrared drying of steamed sweet potato. 4 kg of steamed sweet potato was sliced to thicknesses of 8 and 10 mm, and dried by a far-infrared dryer until a final moisture content of $25{\pm}0.5%$. The far-infrared dryer conditions were an air velocity of 0.6, 0.8 m/s and drying temperature of 60, 70, and $80^{\circ}C$. The results can be summarized as follows. The drying time tended to be reduced as temperature and air velocity for drying increased. The Lewis and Modified Wang and Singh models were found to be suitable for drying of steamed sweet potato by a far-infrared dryer. The color difference was 35.09 on the following conditions: Thickness of 8 mm, temperature of $80^{\circ}C$, and air velocity of 0.8 m/s. The highest sugar content ($59.11^{\circ}Brix$) was observed on the conditions of a thickness of 8 mm, temperature of 80, and air velocity of 0.8 m/s. Energy consumption decreased on the conditions of higher temperature, slower air velocity, and thinner steamed sweet potato.