DIC Treatment Impact on the Physical and Structural Properties of Initially Dried Products: Application on Myrtle Fruit (Myrtus Communis)

This work deals with the drying kinetics of myrtle fruits (Myrtus Communis) initially dried and treated by the Instant Controlled Pressure-Drop DIC as a preservation method of aromatic and medicinal plant. The thermo-mechanical DIC treatment consists in putting a partially dried Myrtle fruit in a high saturated steam pressure (P = 100–500 kPa) for a short period (t = 10–30 s) just before instantly dropping pressure to an absolute pressure vacuum of 5 kPa. The drying experiments carried out airflow of 50 ℃ and a constant velocity of 2 m/s before and after DIC texturing. Statistical analysis of the results shows that this treatment significantly changes the physical and structural properties and generally improves the effective diffusivity for drying.