Avaliação da cinética de secagem da carambola em secador convectivo.

The carambola (star fruit) (Averrhoa carambola L.) is considered one of the great potential of fruit, being source of compounds essential for the nutrition of humans. A large part of post-harvest fruit losses due to the unpreparedness of the people's branch of the agro-industry and consumers. Drying is the most widely used commercial process to preserve and extend the life of the food product by converting them into more stable products. Thus, the aim was to get carambola (star fruit) drying curves in a convective dryer and from these curves, get drying rate data. The cannons were washed, sanitized, minimally processed into 1 cm thick slices and placed immediately in the trays for drying. We used a convection dryer for the experiment at temperatures of 60, 70 and 80 °C, and drying air velocity of 1.5 m s-1. The weighings were carried out until the mass variations were insignificant, and then the samples were placed in a greenhouse at a temperature of 105 °C for 24 h to determine dry matter. For mathematical adjustment of waste drying curves were used the equations of Henderson, Lewis and Page set with the help of the software Statistica, version 5.0. The best fit was given to the Page model, followed by Lewis and Henderson, presenting the best R2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]