Pumpkins were prepared for drying: peeled, seeds were removed; pumpkin flesh was roughly gratedon a shredder (parameters of slices were approximately 2.5cm x 0.5cm x 0.1cm) and placed in aperforated plastic cylinder (Fig. 1 B) with mixer. The initial mass of pumpkins prepared for drying were 3.95r0.01 kg per load.