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Condiments and culinary supplements are subjected to long-term storage and may undergo physical, chemical, and biological changes that can influence their quality. Thus, the objective of the present study was to analyze the drying kinetics of rose pepper (Schinus terebinthifolius Raddi) fruits in an oven with forced air circulation at different temperatures, namely, 45, 55, 65, and 75°C, and determine the effective diffusion coefficient and activation energy using different mathematical models. Furthermore, the effects of the different drying temperatures were analyzed for external color parameters and yield of essential oil contents by gas chromatography coupled to a mass spectrometer. Of the ten models used for fitting, Thompson’s model was one with the best fitting to represent the drying of rose pepper fruits. The diffusion coefficient increases with the elevation of drying air temperature, described by the Arrhenius equation, with activation energy of 53.579 kJ·mol−1. The color of the fruits decreased in lightness (L∗) with the increase in temperature. Of the thirty-eight terpenes identified, α-pinene and cis-ocimene were the most abundant, with the overall highest yield being found at a drying temperature of 45°C.

Jambu is a vegetable originally from the northern region of Brazil, has bioactive properties, being little explored by other regions, due to its high peresivity. And one of the methods to increase the shelf life of plant products is the removal of water. The objective of this work was to evaluate the drying kinetics of jambu leaf mass. Two treatments were carried out: The mass of fresh jambu leaves and the mass of fresh jambu leaves with the addition of drying foam, both submitted in an oven with forced air circulation at temperatures (50, 60 and 70 °C and thickness of 1.0 cm). The proximate composition of the materials was performed before and after drying. Twelve mathematical models were tested on drying kinetics data and thermodynamic properties were calculated. The parameters of the proximate composition for the mass of leaves and foam after drying were: Moisture content of (2 to 7%), ash content of (13 to 17%), protein content of (22 to 30%), lipids of (0.6 to 4%) and total titratable acidity (0.20 to 0.28%) of tartaric acid. The models that best fit the experimental data to describe the drying kinetics of jambu masses were: Wang & Singh. The use of foam mat presented higher values of effective diffusion coefficient and activation energy and lower values of enthalpy and entropy, reducing the drying time.