MICROCONTROLLER-BASED FRUIT DRYING SYSTEM

Abdussamad Umar Jibia, Salisu Umar

Abstract


An automated fruit drying system for which a PIC microcontroller is the main processing unit is presented in this paper. A controlled environment suitable for fruit drying is developed within a closed chamber and the drying is a three step process. First, the infrared light is used internally to preheat the fruit to speedily remove the water content inside the fruit for fast drying. Second, hot air of a specified temperature is blown inside the chamber to maintain the humidity below a specified level and exhaust the humid air of the chamber. Third, the microcontroller disconnects the power to the chamber after the moisture content of the fruits is removed to minimal. Experiments were conducted with 1kg of fresh tomatoes at three different temperatures (40, 50 and 60 0C) and constant relative humidity of 30% RH. The results obtained indicate a significant reduction in the drying time relative to conventional methods with better preservation of quality.


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References


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