Fruits and vegetables are porous, non-homogenous and high
moisture containing food stuffs, and therefore extremely perishable
in nature due to microbial spoilage. Reduction of water from
the fruits and vegetables using different drying techniques is
widely employed to prolong the shelf life of these food commodities.
Among various drying techniques available, convective drying
is most widely employed method due to its simplicity and cost
effectiveness. Heat transfer occurs inside the sample by conduction
and mass transfer takes place by diffusion in accordance with temperature
and moisture concentration gradient respectively