IJFS#1302_bozza Ital. J. Food Sci., vol. 31, 2019 - 487 PAPER DRYING OF LIME SLICES BY MICROWAVE AND COMBINED MICROWAVE-CONVECTIVE METHODS N. IZLI*1, O. TASKIN1 and G. IZLI2 1Department of Biosystems Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Bursa Uludag, Gorukle Campus, 16059, Bursa, Turkey 2Department of Food Engineering, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Architecture and Engineering, University of Bursa Technical, 16190, Bursa, Turkey *Corresponding author: Tel.: +902242941604; Fax: +902242941402 E-mail address: nazmiizli@gmail.com ABSTRACT This research deals with lime samples and aims to investigate the impacts of microwave and combined microwave-convective drying applications. According to the statistical outcomes, models of Midilli et al. and Page were discovered to give more suitable predictions than the other models. Increasing level of both temperature and microwave power, induced a significant reduction in the drying interval while increasing Deff values. Drying experiment at power 90 W and temperature 55°C ensured the best values in color parameter of a* (greenness) and energy consumption. Experiments made with using different techniques will help to select the appropriate drying technique for the relevant sectors. Keywords: activation energy, color, drying kinetics, effective moisture diffusivity, specific energy consumption Ital. J. Food Sci., vol. 31, 2019 - 488 1. INTRODUCTION The Persian lime (Citrus latifolia tanaka) belongs to the family of Rutaceae (citrus family) and also named as ‘Shiraz Limoo’, ‘Bearss lime’, and ‘Tahiti lime’, which is mainly grown in the Gulf Coast of Mexico (LAMBERT et al., 2015; SALIH, 2015; ARREDONDO et al., 2015). It is an economically significant horticultural crop (KAEWSUKSAENG et al., 2015). The major flavor components are neural, citral, geranial, α-terpineol, β-bisabolene, β- pinene, p-cymene, 1,4-cineole, 1,8-cineole, and 4-terpineol (YADAV et al., 2004). It had been used traditionally to treat sinusitis (SALIH, 2015) and stomachache. Also, the cleansing action of mesocarp usage as facial scrub helps in prevention of pimples. Besides, the rind is burnt against mosquitoes in some homes (AIBINU et al., 2007). Human benefit from lime to extract its juice, to prepare beverages, concentrates, squashes and other derivative products such as pectin and citric acid etc. (YADAV, 2004). To preserve food, drying is an ancient and prevalent technique. In the food industry, the primary reason to dry food is to reduce packaging, storage, and transportation costs by downsizing end products in terms of both volume and weight. Hence, in the food industry, developing economical drying techniques have become a prominent research topic (PHOUNGCHANDANG et al., 2008; TASIRIN et al., 2014). Long drying intervals or high temperatures in conventional air drying may distort the dried product (DIAZ et al., 2003). Many studies have shown that drying with microwave energy usage has many conveniences like shorter drying interval, higher energy efficiency, less space, and faster start-up and shut-down periods (GUO and ZHU, 2014). However, inhomogeneous distribution in the microwave cavity creates an uneven heating problem. To circumvent a number of the disadvantages of single microwave or hot-air dryers, combine microwaves with hot air one is another methodology (DARVISHI et al., 2014). Microwave and/or microwave–air combined driers were carried out by several researchers to illustrate drying attributes of many agricultural products, for example, parsley (SOYSAL, 2004), peach (WANG and SHENG, 2006), mint leaves (ÖZBEK and DADALI, 2007), spinach (KARAASLAN and TUÇER, 2008), tomato pomace (AL- HARAHSHEH et al., 2009), onion slices (ARSLAN and ÖZCAN, 2010), seedless grapes (KASSEM et al., 2011), sage leaves (ESTURK, 2012), chili flesh (ZHAO et al., 2013), okra (KUMAR et al., 2014) and apple slices (ZAREIN et al., 2015). The aim of conducted research to scrutinize the thin-layer drying behavior of lime slices in both microwave and microwave-convective drying with existing thin-layer drying models. Also, effective moisture diffusivity, activation energy, color, energy consumption and specific energy consumption of the lime slices were studied. 2. MATERIAL AND METHODS 2.1. Drying equipment and drying procedure Fresh lime samples were obtained from a local grocery one day before the experiments begin and kept at 4±0.5°C temperature. Samples had an average diameter of 40±0.08 mm and were sliced to 5±0.03 mm thickness by using a food slicer (Nicer Dicer, China). In the beginning, the moisture content of the fresh lime samples was identified to be 5.13 (g H2O · g d.m. -1) on a dry basis (d.b.) by using an oven drying at 105°C for 24 hours (ED115 Binder, Tuttlingen, Germany). The drying experiments were conducted at room temperature. A microwave-convective oven (Whirlpool AMW 545, Italy) that works at ∼230 V, 50 Hz with 2450 MHz frequency. Ital. J. Food Sci., vol. 31, 2019 - 489 The system worked in microwave mode at 90 W and 160 W microwave output power levels and in combined microwave-convective mode at 90 W – 55 °C, 90 W – 65 °C, 90 W – 75 °C, 160 W – 55 °C, 160 W – 65 °C, and 160 W – 75 °C microwave output power and temperature combinations with 1 m s-1 air flow. All drying experiments were performed on a 400 mm diameter and 210 x 450 x 420 mm sized glass plate that rotates at the base of the oven. In order to figure out mass, a digital balance (Baster, Istanbul, Turkey) having ±0.01 g accuracy was positioned below the microwave oven device (Fig. 1). The loss of the moisture of the lime samples was noted down during drying interval in every 5 minutes. For each lime sample (100 g), these were applied three times and their mean was figured out. Figure 1. Schematic diagram of experimental microwave-convective drying system (microwave-convective drying chamber (1), rotating glass tray (2) and balance (3)). 2.2. Mathematical modelling of drying data The data on moisture content were transformed into the moisture ratio (MR) and adapted by the aid of ten thin-layer drying models (Table 1). Table 1. Selected thin layer drying models used to mathematically model the lime drying kinetics. No Model name Model References 1 Henderson and Pabis )exp( ktaMR −= BHATTACHARYA et al. (2015). 2 Newton )exp( ktMR −= SHARMA et al. (2005) 3 Page )exp( nktMR −= BHATTACHARYA et al. (2015). 4 Logarithmic cktaMR +−= )exp( UNAL and SACILIK (2011) 5 Two Term )exp()exp( 10 tkbtkaMR −+−= SU et al. (2015) 6 Two Term Exponential )exp()1()exp( kataktaMR −−+−= SHARMA et al. (2005) 7 Wang and Singh 21 btatMR ++= SU et al. (2015) 8 Diffusion Approach )exp()1()exp( kbtaktaMR −−+−= UNAL and SACILIK (2011) 9 Verma et al. )exp()1()exp( gtaktaMR −−+−= OMOLOLA et al. (2014) 10 Midilli et al. btktaMR n +−= )exp( UNAL and SACILIK (2011) Ital. J. Food Sci., vol. 31, 2019 - 490 The moisture ratio was calculated with the equation presented below: eo et MM MM MR − − = (1) Above, Mt represents the moisture content (g water g dry matter-1) at a particular time, M0 represents the initial moisture content (g water g dry matter -1), represents the equilibrium moisture content (g H2O · g d. m. -1). Me values are proportionately less than Mt or M0 values. In consequence, the moisture ratio was made simpler as presented below (ARUMUGANATHAN et al., 2009): o t M M MR = (2) 2.3. Determination of effective moisture diffusivity Drying of agricultural products in a falling rate period is embedded into a mass-diffusion equation in accordance with the second law of Fick on diffusion is presented in Eq. (3) below: 𝜕𝑀 𝜕𝑡 = ∇[𝐷!"" ∇𝑀 ] (3) So as to ascertain the moisture ratio in Eq. (4), benefiting from the second law of Fick on unsteady state diffusion provided in Eq. (3) is possible. Crank (1975) put forward the clarification of the diffusion equation for an infinite slab and so uniform moisture distribution at the beginning, negligible shrinkage and external resistance, and constant diffusivity was assumed to be as follows: 𝑀𝑅 = ! !! ! (!!!!)! exp − (!!!!)!!!!!""! !!! ! !!! (4) Where: Deff symbolizes effective moisture diffusivity in terms of (m2 ·s-1); t symbolizes an interval in terms of (s); L symbolizes half-thickness of samples in terms of (m), and n symbolizes a positive integer. For long drying intervals, only the first term in Eq. (4) is significant and the equation is simplified to the one stated below: 𝑀𝑅 = ! !! 𝑒𝑥𝑝 − !!!!""! !!! Equation (5) can be articulated in a logarithmic format as can be seen below: ln 𝑀𝑅 = ln ! !! − !!!!""! !!! (5) Ital. J. Food Sci., vol. 31, 2019 - 491 In Eq. (6), effective moisture diffusivity values were identified by plotting experimental drying data in ln (MR) versus drying interval. This plot generates a direct line with a slope calculated below (DOYMAZ et al., 2015): 𝑆𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒 = ! !!!!! !!! (6) 2.4. Computation of activation energy On the grounds that temperature inside the microwave dryer cannot be gauged precisely, modification of the revised Arrhenius equation is used to find the activation energy. In this technique, it is deemed that the effective moisture diffusion and the microwave output power ratio are associated with the sample weight (m p-1) rather than air temperature. In this direction, Eq. (7) can be utilized in an efficient way, as noted below (ÖZBEK and DADALI, 2007): 𝐷!"" = 𝐷! − !!! ! (7) above Ea symbolizes the activation energy in terms of (W g-1), m symbolizes the mass of raw sample in terms of (g), P symbolizes the microwave power in terms of (W), and lastly, D0 symbolizes the pre-exponential factor in terms of (m2 s-1). 2.5. Energy and specific energy consumption The experimental apparatus was plugged into the electricity via a digital electric counter (Kaan, Type 101, Turkey) that has a precision of 0.01 kWh. With the use of the counter, the total energy consumption (Et) was measured for whole drying process (KOWALSKI and PAWŁOWSKI, 2011). Energy consumption to dry 100 g fresh lime sample was obtained by applying Equation 8. The Ekg and W0 symbolize the specific energy needed and the primary mass of the sample, respectively (MOTEVALI et al., 2012). 𝐸!" = !! !! (8) 2.6. Colour measurement The flesh color of fresh and dried lime samples was determined with Hunterlab Color Analyzer (MSEZ-4500L, Reston, Virginia, USA) in the L, a, b color scale. Color measurements were conveyed in a three-dimensional color space namely L*, a*, and b*, where L* indicates darkness⁄lightness value, a* indicates redness value (if positive) and greenness value (if negative), and b* indicates the yellowness value (if positive) and blueness value (if negative). On the other side L0*, a0* and b0* are color parameters for fresh lime samples. After the calibration of colorimeter against a standard white surface and black one, six replicate measurements were performed for each sample and L*, a*, b*, L0*, a0* and b0* color values were recorded. To illustrate the color changes, Chroma (C), Hue angle (α) , and total color variance (∆E) values were defined by the following equations (ARGYROPOULOS et al., 2011): )( 22 baC += (9) Ital. J. Food Sci., vol. 31, 2019 - 492 )(tan 1 a b−=α (10) ΔE = 222 *)*(*)*(*)*( 000 bbaaLL −+−+− (11) 2.7. Statistical analysis This research was realized by the aid of randomized plots factorial design of experimental type. In the course of calculation of the inspected items, three replicates were utilized. While interpreting the outcomes, MATLAB (MathWorks Inc., Natick, MA) and JMP (Version 7.0, SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA) software technologies were employed. Significance levels of mean differences were tested and the least significant difference (LSD) test resulted in a 5% significance level. It has been determined that the most convenient model that expresses the drying attributes of lime samples in a thin layer is the one that has lowest reduced chi-squared (χ2) value, lowest root mean square error (RMSE) value and the highest coefficient of determination (R2) (ARUMUGANATHAN et al., 2009). The statistical figures mentioned above are formulated below: nN MRMR N İ iprei − − = ∑ =1 2 ,exp, 2 )( χ (12) N MRMR RMSE n İ iipre∑ = − = 1 exp,, )( (13) where: MRexp,i , symbolizes the experimental moisture ratio for test number i, MRpre,i , symbolizes the estimated moisture ratio for test number i, N symbolizes the observation number, n symbolizes the number of constants in the drying model (DOYMAZ and ISMAIL, 2011). 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 3.1. Drying kinetics of dried lime Fig. 2 illustrates the drying curves of the lime samples that are dried under distinct microwave and microwave-convective drying settings. Drying phase of lime samples took 225, 120, 130, 115, 100, 105, 85 and 75 minutes at 90W, 160W, 90 W – 55°C, 90 W – 65°C, 90 W – 75°C, 160 W – 55°C, 160 W – 65°C, and 160 W – 75°C, respectively. Outcomes of the experiments implied that drying intervals of lime samples dried by microwave-convective technique at 90 W – 75°C and 160 W – 75°C reduced 55.6% and 41.7% in comparison to only 90 W and 160 W microwave powers, respectively. The outcomes stated above are in good harmony with former researches. GOWEN et al. (2008), MOHANTA et al. (2014), CHAYJAN et al. (2015) found that the use of combined microwave convective technique ensured considerable time savings in drying interval for soybean, ginger and hawthorn Ital. J. Food Sci., vol. 31, 2019 - 493 samples, respectively. In addition, the average total drying interval at 160 W – 75°C become shorter by 46.2% as against the drying interval at 90 W – 55°C. It can be said that increasing the microwave power level and temperature level ended in a significant reduction in the drying interval of lime samples in combined microwave-convective drying technique. In agreement to our study, KARAASLAN and TUNCER (2010) combined fan-assisted convection (100, 180 and 250°C) and microwave (180 and 540 W) drying and the time to reduce the moisture content of banana slices from the initial 80 % (w.b.) to the final 15 % (w.b.) was highest at 180 W – 100°C and lowest at 540 W – 250°C, respectively. Similarly, SADEGHI et al. (2013) were measured drying time of lemon slices about 80, 78 and 73 minutes, respectively, when applying 0.97 W g−1 microwave power at 50, 55 and 60°C convective drying. Figure 2. A comparison of the experimental and theoretical moisture ratios predicted by the Midilli et al. and Page models at specific drying times under selected drying conditions (microwave (a) and microwave- convective (b)). Ital. J. Food Sci., vol. 31, 2019 - 494 3.2. Fitting of drying curves lime Table 2 reveals the statistical analysis values obtained from the 10 distinct thin layer drying models, covering the drying model coefficients and the comparison criteria that are benefited from to evaluate the congruous quality, R2, RMSE, and χ2. For the statistical parameters, the values varied between 0.9143 and 0.9998 for R2, between 0.0042 and 0.1037, 0.1659 x 10-4 and 106.3810 x 10-4 for RMSE and χ2, respectively. In Table 3, the Page et al. model presented greater R2 and smaller RMSE and χ2 values in comparison to other thin- layer drying models for microwave-convective combinations of 90W – 75°C, while the Midilli et al. model displayed more suitable statistical values for all other drying settings. In all cases, values of R2, RMSE and χ2 in the Midilli et al. and Page models were ranged from 0.9984 to 0.9998, 0.0042 to 0.0143 and 0.1659 x 10-4 to 1.8507 x 10-4; and 0.9958 to 0.9997, 0.0046 to 0.0211 and 0.1956 x 10-4 to 4.3222 x 10-4, in return. Based on the statistical values, the Midilli et al. model was the most convenient one for all drying conditions tested, except for drying with the microwave-convective combinations of 90 W – 75°C where the Page model is the best one. Fig. 2 presents the comparison between the predicted values and experimental ones using the most convenient models with drying interval at chosen drying conditions of lime. As can be seen from these figures, the Midilli et al. and Page models slightly over-predicted or under-predicted the experimental values, but they are quite close to the experimental results. Accordingly, it could be deduced that models of Midilli et al. and Page sufficiently explained the thin layer drying attributes of lime under the experimental conditions. Similar outcomes have been stated by UNAL et al. (2011), BHATTACHARYA et al. (2015) and SU et al. (2015) for Midilli et al. and SHARMA et al. (2005), DOYMAZ and İSMAIL (2011), THERDTHAI et al. (2011) for Page model. Table 2. Estimated values of coefficients and statistical analyses obtained from various thin layer drying models for drying of lime using microwave (90 and 160 W) method. No 90 W 160 W Model coefficients R2 RMSE χ2(10-4) Model coefficients R2 RMSE χ2(10-4) 1 a=1.164; k=0.01247 0.9632 0.0641 40.4278 a=1.123; k=0.02029 0.9695 0.0566 32.0739 2 k=0.01078 0.9374 0.0836 69.1906 k=0.01803 0.9522 0.0709 50.5494 3 k=0.000555; n=1.641 0.9990 0.0104 1.0139 k=0.002511; n=1.483 0.9958 0.0211 4.3222 4 a=1.403; k=0.00734 c=-0.3089 0.9888 0.0354 12.2592 a=1.505; k=0.01025 c=-0.4523 0.9969 0.0181 3.1788 5 a=-23.08; ko=0.02414 b=24.08; k1=0.02306 0.9955 0.0224 4.8956 a=-14.31; ko=0.03806 b=15.32; k1=0.03578 0.9929 0.0274 7.3938 6 a=0.0000627; k=171.7 0.9360 0.0845 70.7869 a=0.0000608; k=296.6 0.9501 0.0725 52.7683 7 a=-0.00774; b=0.0000141 0.9861 0.0394 15.2627 a=-0.01276; b=0.0000362 0.9954 0.0221 4.8176 8 a=-21.79; k=0.02327 b=0.9567 0.9943 0.0252 6.0009 a=-30.8; k=0.03781 b=0.9704 0.9934 0.0264 6.5723 9 a=-33.45; k=0.02396 g=0.02321 0.9956 0.0221 4.7390 a=-13.74; k=0.03845 g=0.036 0.9934 0.0265 6.8890 10 a=0.9905; k=0.0005298 n=1.645; b=-0.0000446 0.9992 0.00946 0.8400 a=1.016; k=0.005021 n=1.272; b=-0.000886 0.9987 0.0119 1.2692 Ital. J. Food Sci., vol. 31, 2019 - 495 Table 3. Estimated values of coefficients and statistical analyses obtained from various thin layer drying models for drying of lime using combined microwave- convective method. No 90 W – 55oC 90 W – 65oC 90 W – 75oC Model coefficients R2 RMSE χ2(10-4) Model coefficients R2 RMSE χ2(10-4) Model coefficients R2 RMSE χ2(10-4) 1 a=1.135; k=0.01856 0.9609 0.0651 43.1892 a=1.142; k=0.02208 0.9617 0.0659 42.9539 a=1.149; k=0.02614 0.9592 0.0696 49.2828 2 k=0.01632 0.9404 0.0804 66.3224 k=0.01936 0.9402 0.0824 67.7189 k=0.02285 0.9367 0.0867 76.2392 3 k=0.001448; n=1.58 0.9962 0.0202 3.9792 k=0.001695; n=1.606 0.9981 0.0145 1.8601 k=0.001792; n=1.66 0.9996 0.0073 0.6060 4 a=1.637; k=0.008336 c=-0.5794 0.9951 0.0231 5.2789 a=1.511; k=0.01135 c=-0.4383 0.9919 0.0302 8.4956 a=1.461; k=0.01441 c=-0.3763 0.9873 0.0388 15.2013 5 a=-46.82; ko=0.0353 b=47.82; k1=0.03455 0.9919 0.0297 8.8554 a=-32.98; ko=0.04255 b=34; k1=0.04126 0.9943 0.0255 6.1631 a=-35.94; ko=0.05143 b=36.95; k1=0.04992 0.9965 0.0203 4.4728 6 a=0.0000609; k=267.5 0.9379 0.0819 68.9980 a=0.0000627; k=308.7 0.9374 0.0842 70.8216 a=0.0000636; k=359.3 0.9333 0.0889 80.2788 7 a=-0.01129; b=0.0000262 0.9931 0.0274 7.7391 a=-0.01364; b=0.0000412 0.9894 0.0347 11.6260 a=-0.01629; b=0.000061 0.9842 0.0432 18.9157 8 a=-24.67; k=0.03574 b=0.9605 0.9921 0.0293 8.2467 a=-20.28; k=0.0433 b=0.9505 0.9949 0.0241 5.2427 a=-40.28; k=0.05181 b=0.9731 0.9970 0.0189 3.7127 9 a=-43.46; k=0.03522 g=0.03443 0.9921 0.0293 8.6181 a=-42.65; k=0.04245 g=0.04144 0.9949 0.0240 5.5011 a=-15.08; k=0.053 g=0.04934 0.9970 0.0190 3.9366 10 a=1.002; k=0.002416 n=1.42; b=-0.0006716 0.9986 0.0121 1.3012 a=1.003; k=0.002283 n=1.514; b=-0.0003645 0.9989 0.0114 0.9357 a=1.001; k=0.001906 n=1.641; b=-0.0000735 0.9995 0.0074 0.6163 No 160 W – 55oC 160 W – 65oC 160 W – 75oC Model coefficients R2 RMSE χ2(10-4) Model coefficients R2 RMSE χ2(10-4) Model coefficients R2 RMSE χ2(10-4) 1 a=1.151; k=0.02433 0.9590 0.0694 49.2496 a=1.143; k=0.0294 0.9560 0.0728 51.7650 a=1.137; k=0.03362 0.9393 0.0872 74.3240 2 k=0.02119 0.9352 0.0873 78.1182 k=0.02579 0.9346 0.0888 76.5298 k=0.02962 0.9204 0.0999 98.7500 3 k=0.001568; n=1.665 0.9997 0.0046 0.1956 k=0.002196; n=1.661 0.9986 0.0131 1.7386 k=0.001827; n=1.779 0.9972 0.0188 3.1235 4 a=1.498; k=0.01294 c=-0.4127 0.9882 0.0373 14.2787 a=1.568; k=0.01441 c=-0.4931 0.9897 0.0352 11.5807 a=1.89; k=0.01257 c=-0.8272 0.9869 0.0405 16.0290 5 a=-29.68; ko=0.04847 b=30.69; k1=0.04673 0.9971 0.0183 3.4801 a=-18.37; ko=0.05935 b=19.38; k1=0.05599 0.9950 0.0246 5.3362 a=-22.73; ko=0.06944 b=23.74; k1=0.06613 0.9872 0.0400 14.7394 6 a=0.0000597; k=354.9 0.9319 0.0894 82.0501 a=0.0000647; k=398.8 0.9305 0.0915 81.3402 a=0.0000758; k=390.9 0.9143 0.1037 106.3810 7 a=-0.015; b=0.0000502 0.9842 0.0431 19.3033 a=-0.01796; b=0.0000689 0.9864 0.0405 15.1585 a=-0.01974; b=0.000069 0.9844 0.0443 19.6322 8 a=-14.75; k=0.04954 b=0.9292 0.9975 0.0171 2.8964 a=-21.74; k=0.05933 b=0.9512 0.9955 0.0233 5.1105 a=-24.99; k=0.06934 b=0.9558 0.9890 0.0372 11.7403 9 a=-15.14; k=0.04946 g=0.04604 0.9975 0.0171 3.0502 a=-14.52; k=0.06004 g=0.05575 0.9955 0.0233 5.4618 a=-20.43; k=0.0702 g=0.06641 0.9890 0.0372 12.7526 10 a=1.002; k=0.001717 n=1.638; b=-0.0000823 0.9998 0.0042 0.1659 a=1.007; k=0.002971 n=1.564; b=-0.0004321 0.9991 0.0104 1.0207 a=0.9896; k=0.002083 n=1.714; b=-0.0006544 0.9984 0.0143 1.8507 Ital. J. Food Sci., vol. 31, 2019 - 496 3.3. Effective moisture diffusivity Effective moisture diffusivity of microwave and microwave-convective dried lime slices ranged from 1.95 x 10-9 and 5.84 x 10-9. It is clear in Table 4 that Deff values showed an increase with the rise in microwave power and heating temperature. 160 W - 75 °C drying setting has the maximum effective moisture diffusivity value and 90 W has the minimum effective moisture diffusivity value. This can be explained by the higher heat caused the higher mass transfer. The diffusivity values derived from the present study were in agreement with values proposed in the literature. DOYMAZ et al. (2015) stated that Deff values for dried agricultural products were generally varied between 10–8 and 10–12 m2/s. DARVISHI et al. (2014) found that Deff values of lemon slices dried at 180, 360, 540 and 720 W microwave power level were 1.87, 2.48, 3.29 and 3.95 x 10-8, respectively. Similarly, SADEGHI et al. (2013) studied on lemon slices dried by using combined microwave - convective drying method at 50, 55 and 60°C inlet hot-air temperatures and microwave powers of 185.5 W and 388.5 W. The lowest and highest values of Deff are 5.45 × 10−10 (185.5 W - 50°C) and 1.25 × 10−9 m2 s−1 (388.5 W – 60°C), respectively. All of the outcomes above verify the rule that the rise in Deff leads to decline in the drying interval. 3.4. Activation energy The results indicated that Ea values of lime are 1.05 W g-1 during microwave drying and 15.99-19.33 W g-1 for microwave-convective drying combinations at 90 W and 160 W, in return. These findings are in congruence with the former researchers. To give an example, ZAREIN et al. (2015) found that the Ea of microwave dried apple samples at 200, 400 and 600 W was 12.15 W g-1. The similar trend was determined by AMIRI CHAYJAN et al. (2015) for hawthorn fruit drying with microwave-convective drying technique. In general, the obtained results of the current study were well consistent with previous high moisture agricultural and food materials studies (RAVULA et al., 2017). 3.5. Energy analysis Based on the benchmarking of the energy and specific energy consumption figures obtained during drying experiments of lime samples, it is found that in the 90 W – 55 °C combination required the minimum volume of energy and specific energy, whereas 90 W required the maximum volume of energy and specific energy. Out of these drying experiments, the microwave-drying ones consume more energy and they are not cost- effective to dry lime samples, whereas the microwave-convective drying combinations are energy-efficient and they consume less energy to dry lime samples. Taking into consideration that energy costs high all around the world, a combination of microwave- convective drying method seems to be an outstanding alternative. According to Table 5, the specific energy requirement is a function of air temperature and microwave power, such that when the microwave power level is constant, specific energy requirement to dry lime surges with the rise in air temperature. As drying rate is associated with microwave power and air temperature linearly, it could be detected that the surge in the microwave power and the air temperature consequently end up with the decline in drying interval. Similarly, DEMIREL and ISMAIL (2017) stated that total energy consumption depends on the overall drying interval. Out of all the drying techniques, the optimal energy consumption arose through microwave drying at 180 W power level with 0.042 kWh energy consumption. The overall energy consumption in all of the combined microwave-convective drying test processes of nectarine was found between 2.03 - 4.25 Ital. J. Food Sci., vol. 31, 2019 - 497 kWh. As VARITH et al. (2007) investigated the peeled longan drying with microwave-hot air combination. The least required specific energy consumption was found 29.7 MJ kg-1 water with MW400-300/40-60 and specific energy consumption can reduce the up to 48.2%. Table 4. Effective moisture diffusivities of dried lime samples. Drying method Deff (m 2 s-1) 90 W 1.95 x 10-9 90 W - 55 °C 3.24 x 10-9 90 W - 65 °C 3.89 x 10-9 90 W - 75 °C 4.54 x 10-9 160 W 3.24 x 10-9 160 W - 55 °C 3.89 x 10-9 160 W - 65 °C 5.19 x 10-9 160 W - 75 °C 5.84 x 10-9 Table 5. Energy consumption values of dried lime samples. Drying method Drying time (min) Energy consumption (kWh) Specific energy consumption (kWh kg-1) 90 W 269 0.85 10.36 90 W - 55 °C 131 0.57 6.93 90 W - 65 °C 118 0.60 7.40 90 W - 75 °C 97 0.67 8.17 160 W 131 0.57 7 160 W - 55 °C 120 0.61 7.48 160 W - 65 °C 77 0.62 7.5 160 W - 75 °C 33 0.63 7.64 3.6. Colour analysis Because of to being highly appreciated quality parameter, the effect of drying on the color should be minimized (VEGA-GÁLVEZ et al., 2009). The results concerning the color changes under different experimental conditions are compared to the fresh sample in Table 6. As the increase in drying air temperature at constant microwave power lead to decreases in L* values and increases in values of b*. The decrease of L* value implies darker color for all dried lime samples. While negative a* value (greenness) was seen for fresh lime samples (-3.79), it has turn to positive value (redness) in all dried lime samples. Besides, the drying at 160 W (28.08) has less negative effect than 90 W (29.21) in color value of b*. According to the ∆E parameter, there were no significant differences except 160 W – 65°C and 160 W – 75°C drying conditions (p<0.05). Previous studies such as FADAVI and MEHRABI (2013), who considered the different temperature treatments (Shadow, sun-dried, 40, 105 and 200°C) effect on dried lime and defined that the attractive color is a necessary quality parameter. Similar outcomes have been put forward by DÍAZ et al. (2011). Ital. J. Food Sci., vol. 31, 2019 - 498 Table 6. Color values of fresh and dried lime samples. Drying method Color parameters L* a* b* C α° ∆E Fresh 62.58±0.06a -3.79±0.08a 26.39±0.05a 26.67±0.06a 98.14±0.17a - 90 W 57.52±0.34d 5.14±0.06cd 29.21±0.33cd 29.66±0.33cd 80.06±0.01c 16.84±0.19a 90 W - 55 °C 60.78±0.35b 2.90±1.58b 30.81±2.19de 30.96±2.31de 84.80±2.66b 16.64±2.61a 90 W - 65 °C 58.88±0.03c 3.60±0.01b 30.10±0.02de 30.31±0.01de 83.23±0.01b 16.56±0.02a 90 W - 75 °C 52.78±0.19g 5.62±0.91cd 27.10±0.88ab 27.69±0.67ab 78.29±2.25cd 17.59±0.24a 160 W 54.16±0.23f 4.84±0.49c 28.08±1.53bc 28.50±1.42bc 80.21±1.55c 17.18±1.01a 160 W - 55 °C 57.79±0.08d 3.42±0.01b 31.30±0.03e 31.49±0.03e 83.81±0.02b 17.85±0.01a 160 W - 65 °C 56.05±0.04e 5.81±0.02cd 29.97±0.01de 30.53±0.01de 79.08±0.01cd 18.26±0.02ab 160 W - 75 °C 49.24±0.09h 6.19±0.03d 26.98±0.06ab 27.68±0.06ab 77.12±0.02d 19.95±0.03b a-g mean that different letters in same column with differ significantly (p < 0.05). The rise of drying temperature from 60 to 70 °C without pretreatment resulted color degradation in 3 and 5 mm lime slices. However, the pretreated drying processes end up with fewer color changes and culminate in a product quality analogous to the fresh fruit. 4. CONCLUSIONS In this research, the influences of microwave and combined microwave-convective drying techniques on the kinetics of drying, color, effective moisture diffusivity, activation energy and energy consumption of lime samples were studied. The obtained outcomes showed that the combined microwave-convective drying technique enabled significantly higher time-saving than microwave drying. The experimental moisture ratio data were tailored to the chosen 10 different thin-layer drying models and the drying attributes are illustrated better in the models of Midilli et al. and Page. The optimal color parameter of a* (greenness) and energy consumption values are achieved in 90 W – 55°C. Alternative techniques should be used to save time or energy in the industrial food process. REFERENCES Aibinu I., Adenipekun T., Adelowotan T., Ogunsanya T. and Odugbemi, T. 2007. Evaluation of the antimicrobial properties of different parts of Citrus Aurantifolia (Lime Fruit) as used locally. Afr. J. Tradit. Complement. Altern. Med. 4(2):185. Al-Harahsheh M., Ala’a H. and Magee T.R.A. 2009. Microwave drying kinetics of tomato pomace: Effect of osmotic dehydration. Chem. Eng. Process. Process Intensif. 48(1):524. Amiri Chayjan R., Kaveh M. and Khayati, S. 2015. Modeling drying characteristics of hawthorn fruit under microwave‐ convective conditions. J. Food Process. Preserv. 39(3):239. Argyropoulos D., Heindl A. and Müller J. 2011. Assessment of convection, hot‐air combined with microwave‐vacuum and freeze‐drying methods for mushrooms with regard to product quality. Int. J. Food Sci. Technol. 46(2):333. Arredondo J., Ruiz L., Lopez G. and Diaz-Fleische, F. 2015. Determination of the host status of the ‘Persian’ lime (Citrus latifolia Tanaka) for Anastrepha ludens (Loew) (Diptera: Tephritidae). J. Econ. Entomol. 108(1):1. Ital. J. Food Sci., vol. 31, 2019 - 499 Arslan, D. and Özcan M.M. 2010. Study the effect of sun, oven and microwave drying on quality of onion slices. LWT Food Sci. Technol. 43(7):1121. Arumuganathan T., Manikantan M.R., Rai R.D., Anandakumar S. and Khare, V. 2009. Mathematical modeling of drying kinetics of milky mushroom in a fluidized bed dryer. Int. Agrophys. 23(1):1. Bhattacharya M., Srivastav P.P. and Mishra, H.N. 2015. Thin-layer modeling of convective and microwave-convective drying of oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus). J. Food Sci. Technol. 52(4):2013. Darvishi H., Khoshtaghaza H.M. and Minaei S. 2014. Drying kinetics and colour change of lemon slices. Int. Agrophys. 28:1. Demirel F.M. and Ismail O. 2017. Investigation of the effect of a hybrid drying method on the color quality of nectarine slices and energy consumption. Stud. U. Babes-Bol. Che. 62(1):237. Díaz D.M., Alcalá O.R., Avilés C.A., De la Cruz Medina J. and Jimenes, G.R. 2011. Drying process design for the third- qualıty persian lime use from Cuitláhuac, Veracrúz. México. Revista Iberoamericana de Tecnología Postcosecha 12(1):69. Diaz G.R., Martinez-Monzo J., Fito P. and Chiralt A. 2003. Modelling of dehydration-rehydration of orange slices in combined microwave-air drying. Innov. Food Sci. Emerg. Technol. 4:203. Doymaz İ. and İsmail O. 2011. Drying characteristics of sweet cherry. Food Bioprod. Process. 89(1):31. Doymaz I., Kipcak A.S. and Piskin S. (2015). Microwave drying of green bean slices: Drying Kinetics and physical quality. Czech J. Food Sci. 33(4):367. Esturk O. 2012. Intermittent and continuous microwave-convective air-drying characteristics of sage (Salvia officinalis) leaves. Food Bioprocess Technol. 5(5):1664. Fadavi A. and Mehrabi A.A. 2013. Mechanical processing and temperature effect on lime shrinkage. Agricultural Engineering International: CIGR Journal. 15(3):238. Gowen A.A., Abu-Ghannam N., Frias J. and Oliveira J. 2008. Modeling dehydration and rehydration of cooked soybeans subjected to combined microwave–hot-air drying. Innovative Food Sci. Emerg. Technol. 9(1):129. Guo W. and Zhu, X. 2014. Dielectric Properties of Red Pepper Powder Related to Radiofrequency and Microwave Drying. Food Bioprocess Technol. 7:3591. Kaewsuksaeng S., Tatmala N., Srilaong V. and Pongprasert N. 2015. Postharvest heat treatment delays chlorophyll degradation and maintains quality in Thai lime (Citrus aurantifolia Swingle cv. Paan) fruit. Postharvest Biol. Technol. 100:1. Karaaslan S.N. and Tuncer I.K. 2008. Development of a drying model for combined microwave–fan-assisted convection drying of spinach. Biosyst. Eng. 100(1):44. Karaaslan S. and Tunçer İ.K. 2010. Combined microwave fan-assisted convection dehydration of banana [Musa acuminata Colla (Cavendish Group)]. Philipp. Agric. Sci. 93(1):43. Kassem A.S., Shokr A.Z., El-Mahdy A.R., Aboukarima A.M. and Hamed E.Y. 2011. Comparison of drying characteristics of Thompson seedless grapes using combined microwave oven and hot air drying. J. Saudi Society of Agr. Sci. 10(1):33. Kowalski S.J. and Pawłowski A. 2011. Energy consumption and quality aspect by intermittent drying. Chem. Eng. Process. Process Intensif. 50(4):384. Kumar D., Prasad S. and Murthy G.S. 2014. Optimization of microwave-assisted hot air drying conditions of okra using response surface methodology. J. Food Sci. Technol. 51(2):221. Lambert G.F., Lasserre A.A., Azzaro-Pantel C., Miranda-Ackerman M.A., Vázquez R.P. and Salazar M.D.R.P. 2015. Behavior patterns related to the agricultural practices in the production of Persian lime (Citrus latifolia tanaka) in the seasonal orchard. Comput. Electron. Agric. 116:162. Mohanta B., Dash S.K., Panda M.K. and Sahoo G. R. 2014. Standardization of process parameters for microwave assisted convective dehydration of ginger. J. Food Sci. Technol. 51(4):673. Motevali A., Abbaszadeh A., Minaei S., Khoshtaghaza M. H. and Ghobadian B. 2012. Effective moisture diffusivity, activation energy and energy consumption in thin-layer drying of Jujube (Zizyphus jujube Mill). J. Agr. Sci. Tech. 14(3):523. Ital. J. Food Sci., vol. 31, 2019 - 500 Omolola A.O., Jideani A.I.O. and Kapila P.F. 2014. Modeling microwave drying kinetics and moisture diffusivity of Mabonde banana variety. Int. J. Agric. Biol. Eng. 7(6):107. Özbek B. and Dadali G. 2007. Thin-layer drying characteristics and modelling of mint leaves undergoing microwave treatment. J. Food Eng. 83(4):541. Phoungchandang S., Srinukroh W. and Leenanon B. 2008. Kaffir lime leaf (Citrus hystric DC.) drying using tray and heat pump dehumidified drying. Drying Technol. 26(12):1602. Ravula S.R., Munagala S.R., Arepally D. and Reddy P. 2017. Mathematical modelling and estimation of effective moisture diffusivity, activation energy, energy and exergy analysis of thin layer drying of pineapple. J. Exp. Biol. 5(3):392. Sadeghi M., Mirzabeigi Kesbi O. and Mireei S.A. 2013. Mass transfer characteristics during convective, microwave and combined microwave–convective drying of lemon slices. J. Agr. Sci. Tech. 93(3):471. Salih N.D. 2015. Evaluation of the Antimicrobial Effects of Citrus Aurantifolia (Key Lime) Against Different Microbial Species Isolated From Asthma and Sinusitis Patients. World J. Pharm. Pharm. Sci. 4(5):324. Sharma G.P., Verma R.C. and Pathare P. 2005. Mathematical modeling of infrared radiation thin layer drying of onion slices. J. Food Eng. 71(3):282. Soysal Y. 2004. Microwave drying characteristics of parsley. Biosyst. Eng. 89(2):167. Su D., Zhang M., Wei Z., Tang X., Zhang R., Liu L. and Deng Y. 2015. Effect of microwave power on kinetics and characteristics of microwave vacuum-dried longan (Dimocarpus longan Lour.) pulp. Food Sci. Technol. Int. 21(2):124. Tasirin S.M., Puspasari I., Lun A.W., Chai P.V. and Lee, W.T. 2014. Drying of kaffir lime leaves in a fluidized bed dryer with inertparticles: Kinetics and quality determination. Ind. Crops Prod. 61:193. Therdthai N., Zhou W. and Kanitta Pattanapa K. 2011. Microwave vacuum drying of osmotically dehydrated mandarin cv. (Sai-Namphaung). Int. J. Food Sci. Technol. 46(11):2401. Unal H.G. and Sacilik K. 2011. Drying characteristics of hawthorn fruits in a convective hot-air dryer. J. Food Process. Preserv. 35(2):272. Varith J., Dijkanarukkul P., Achariyaviriya A. and Achariyaviriya S. 2007. Combined microwave-hot air drying of peeled longan. J. Food Eng. 81(2):454. Vega-Gálvez A., Di Scala K., Rodríguez K., Lemus-Mondaca R., Miranda M., López J., and Perez-Won M. 2009. Effect of air-drying temperature on physico-chemical properties, antioxidant capacity, colour and total phenolic content of red pepper (Capsicum annuum, L. var. Hungarian). Food Chem. 117(4):647-653. Wang J. and Sheng K. 2006. Far-infrared and microwave drying of peach. LWT Food Sci. Technol. 39(3):247. Yadav A.R., Chauhan A.S., Rekha M.N., Rao L.J.M. and Ramteke R.S. 2004. Flavour quality of dehydrated lime [Citrus aurantifolia (Christm.) Swingle]. Food Chem. 85:59. Zarein M., Samadi S.H. and Ghobadian B. 2015. Investigation of microwave dryer effect on energy efficiency during drying of apple slices. J. Saudi Society of Agr. Sci. 14(1):41. Zhao D., Zhao C., Tao H., An K., Ding S. and Wang Z. 2013. The effect of osmosis pretreatment on hot-air drying and microwave drying characteristics of chili (Capsicum annuum L.) flesh. Int. J. Food Sci. Technol. 48(8):1589. Paper Received June 13, 2018 Accepted February 1, 2019