where Wo, Wt and Mo are the initial mass (g) of sample after ultrasoundpre-treatment,mass(g)of sampleat time t (min)andtheinitial moisture content (g water/g dry solids), respectively. The initial moisture content was determined using the hot air oven method [12].Dryingratewasdefinedasthemoisturecontentvariationwith time and calculated using E