Copyright (c) 2025 Documentos de Trabajo ECBTI
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Modeling of the kinetics of Cocoa (Theobrama Cacao L.)
The drying process of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) samples from the regions of Caldas and Huila was carried out in two types of dryers: a tunnel-type convective solar dryer with a polyethylene cover (SPE) and a tunnel-type convective solar dryer with a polycarbonate photovoltaic cover (SPC). A total of 200 g of fermented cocoa samples were dried until reaching a moisture content of 7 % (w.b.). The moisture removal rate (MRR) was determined, and the drying kinetics were obtained and fitted to eight mathematical models in order to establish which best represented the process. According to the statistical analysis, the region and the type of drying technology had a significant effect on the WRR (p < 0,05). The highest WRR was observed for the SPCCAL treatment, with a value of 0,78 kg H₂O/kg dm·h. Based on the results, the mathematical model that best described the kinetic behavior during drying was the diffusion approximation model, with a correlation coefficient (0,9646 ≤ R² ≤ 0,9801) and RMSE values < 0,0589.
