| Opuntia ficus-indica, also known as nopal, is a cactus which grows on arid and semiarid lands of America. Dehydrated nopal is an alternative for food preservation, but drying times of cladodes are very long. The objective of this study was to evaluate dry kinetics of nopal thin slices, of 4 mm thick, 140 mm long and 17 mm wide. We conducted the drying process in a convective cross flow tray dryer at 35 °C, 45 °C and 60 °C and air velocities of 1 m s-1, 1.5 m s-1 and 2 m s-1, under laboratory conditions. Results indicated that the effect of air temperature on the drying time of nopal slices was higher than the air velocity (p≤0.05). The drying time for nopal in thin slices was remarkably lower (99 %) compared to that for whole cladode (p≤0.05 and 50 % lower... |
