EFFECTIVE MOISTURE DIFFUSIVITY OF PLAIN YOGURT UNDERGOING MICROWAVE VACUUM DRYING

The effective moisture diffusivity of yogurt was estimated by the method of slopes of the drying curve and the regular regime technique using the isothermal drying data obtained by microwave vacuum drying. The use of microwave vacuum drying seemed advantageous for obtaining the isothermal data. The method of slopes of the drying curve was found useful for estimating effective moisture diffusivity from the drying data of yogurt, because the model obtained from this method simulated the drying curve better than one from the regular regime technique and because the method of slopes is simple to handle.