The effect of the drying rates of fruit and cladode of Opuntia Ficus Indica was examined at different temperatures. The experimental drying curves show only a falling drying rate period. The values of drying rate of prickly pear (fruit and cladode) almost doubled when the drying temperature was increased from 40 to 60°C. The experimental drying data were applied to various drying equation (Logarithmic; Wang and Singh, Henderson and Pabis, MMF model and Midilli equation). Midilli equation was optimal for characterizing drying behaviour of prickly pear for the whole range of temperature with a correlation coefficient of 99.99% for the fruit and the cladode and a standard error of 0.0015 for the fruit and 0.0017 for the cladode.
©2011 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston
