Drying Sardine Fishes by Microwave Drying Machine
by Anna C. Food Drying Oven Manufacturer1. Why Fresh Sardine Fishes Need to Be Dried by Microwave Drying Machine?
Sardine fish is an important source of high-quality protein required in
human diet, but it has not yet been fully utilized, due to the limited
storage period and, sometimes, their strong fishy odor. Fresh sardine
fish contains up to 80% of water, and it is a highly perishable material
and having a short storage life. Cooling is a widely used, and the
simplest method of cooling fish is icing which can maintain quality and
prevent the spoilage. However, the frozen sardine fish is not utilized
by consumers and converted into finished product, then it still remains
surplus and goes waste. Therefore, to improve their preservation quality
and acceptance by consumers, more innovative processing techniques need
to be applied.
Dried fish fillets are conventional processed products of sardine fish,
because they can be stored for a long time and conveniently used.
Conventional drying processes have significant limitations of
uneconomical energy consumption and long processing time. However,
microwaving changes electricity into high-frequency microwaves that
water can absorb, causing water molecular vibration, and results in
drying of food. And microwave drying offers many advantages in
processing, including less startup time, faster heating, energy
efficiency, space savings, precise process control, selective heating
and final products with improved nutritive quality.
2. Optimum Parameters for Drying Sardine Fish by Microwave Drying Oven
Drying is a complex caloric process, and unsteady heat and moisture
transfer occur simultaneously in this process. One of the most important
aspects of sardine fish drying technology is the modelling of the
drying process. It is important to develop a better understanding of the
controlling parameters of this drying process from. So let’s find the
effects of microwave power on drying kinetics, specific energy
consumption and modelling of drying of sardine fish through this study.
2.1 Raw material handling and setup
The fresh sardine fish samples are used in this study. And the fresh
sardine fish should be cleaned by water to ensure the sardine fish free
from foreign materials. In order to preserve its original quality, the
sardine fish was stored in a refrigerator until drying experiments. The
average initial moisture contents of the sardine fish samples were found
to be 2.76 on dry basis. The microwave was set temperature about 103
°C.
The microwave oven was operated by a control terminal which could
control both microwave power level and emission time. The sardine fish
samples were put into the microwave container. Drying experiments were
carried out with 200, 300, 400 and 500 W microwave power levels to
investigate the effects of microwave power on drying of sardine fish.
Moisture loss of the sardine fish was recorded by means of the balance
at 15s intervals until no discernible weight change was observed.
2.2 The analysis of moisture ratio, drying time and drying rate.
Through the contrast of date record in the drying process, and we found
that the moisture content was effected by the microwave power input and
drying time of the sardine fish was significantly reduced from 9.5 to
4.25min, as the power input increased. It was also clear that increasing
the power output resulted in shortened drying times up to 51%. The
results indicated that mass transfer within the sample was more rapid
during higher microwave power heating, because more heat was generated
within the fish creating a large vapor pressure difference between the
center and the surface of the product due to characteristic microwave
volumetric heating. The changes in moisture ratio with drying time of
sardine fish in microwave drying were presented in the following chart.
What’s the changes of moisture content and drying rate with the
drying continuing? In fact, the changes were similar with open sun
drying of prawn and chela fish. The moisture content of the material was
very high during the initial phase of the drying which resulted in a
higher absorption of microwave power and higher drying rates due to the
higher moisture diffusion. As the drying progressed, the loss of
moisture in the product caused a decrease in the absorption of microwave
power and resulted in a fall in the drying rate. Higher drying rates
were obtained at higher microwave output powers. The drying rate rapidly
increased and then slowly decreased as drying progresses. It was
observed that drying rate reduces with time or with the reduction of
moisture content generally.
2.3 The changes between microwave power and energy consumption in the drying process
Statistical analyses showed that microwave power in the range of 200–500
W was not significant on the specific energy consumption values of
sardine fish. However, it was noted that the lowest specific energy
consumption occurred in 500 W. Drying energy consumption at 500 W was
3.78 MJ/kg water. the microwave specific energy consumption values at
different amounts of microwave powers for the drying of sardine fish
were showed as this following chart.
Finally, we could find the drying of sardine fish samples took place in
the falling rate period and was governed by moisture diffusion in the
drying process. And no significant differences were observed about the
specific energy consumption of microwave drying sardine fish. However,
minimum specific energy consumption (3.78 MJ/kg water) was obtained at
500 W microwave levels. Besides that, we also found microwave could
penetrate through the sardine fish affecting its inside and outside
simultaneously, rapid drying speed, short drying time, uniform heating,
good product quality. To be honest, microwave drying method is very
suitable for drying fish because of its features and advantages.
3. Tips and Hints for Microwave Dried Sardine Fish Recipes
Sardines pack an awesome nutritional punch. A single serving has around
23 grams of protein and is loaded with omega-3 fatty acids, calcium,
iron and potassium, and only 200 calories. It’s an important component
of a healthy diet. Dried sardine fish can be used in a variety of ways
from being served as a snack to adding flavor to other dishes. Dried
sardine fish can be crumbled over salads and pastas, added to soups and
is a staple of many recipes.
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Created on Dec 31st 1969 18:00. Viewed 0 times.