THE EFFECT OF DIFFERENT MICROWAVE POWERS ON THE DRYING KINETICS AND POWDER PROPERTIES OF FOAM-MAT DRIED EGG WHITE POWDER

The aim of this study is to determine the effect of different microwave powers on the drying kinetics and powder properties of foam mat dried egg white powder. For this purpose, the egg white foam was obtained by using kitchen blender (1000W, 5min) and dried in a domestic microwave oven at five different microwave powers (120-720W). According to the results, the drying time decreased from 360s to 80s according to increasing microwave power (P <0.05). In order to determine the drying kinetic of egg white foam, the experimental data was fitted to various semitheoretical models and one empirical model. Page model which showed the highest R2 values (0.983-0.994) was chosen as the most suitable model for determining the drying behavior of egg white foam. In addition, the average effective moisture diffusivity and activation energy values were calculated and ranged between 3.3389E-08 to 1.4139E-07 m2/s and 28.0640 W/g, respectivel