USING SOME MATHEMATICAL MODELS IN MODELING MUSHROOM DRYING (\textit{AGARICUS BISPORUS})

In the present study, a thin-layer drying kinetics of Agaricus bisporus mushroom was experimentally investigated in convective dryer.Experiments were performed at air temperatures of 35 • C, 45 • C, and 55 • C and constant air velocity of 2 m s -1 .In order to select a suitable form of the drying curve, 11 different mathematical models were fitted to experimental data.The high values of coefficient of determination (R 2 ) and the low values of reduced chi-square (χ 2 ) and root mean square error (RM SE) indicated that the Modified Henderson and Pabis model could satisfactorily illustrate the drying curve of Agaricus bisporus mushroom.The Modified Henderson and Pabis model had the highest value of R 2 (0.9990), the lowest χ 2 (0.0001) and RM SE (0.0092).Fick's second law was used to calculate the effective moisture diffusivity.The moisture diffusion coefficient varied between 1.4970×10 -8 and 2.7222×10 -8 m 2 s -1 for the given temperature range and corresponding activation energy was 25.1648 kJ mol -1 .