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Advances and recent developments in thermal drying for bio-origin and Chung Lim Law,1* Sunil Shivram Waje,2 Bhaskar Narayan Thorat2 and Arun Sadashiv Mujumdar3 1School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Nottingham, Malaysia Campus, Selangor, Malaysia 2Chemical Engineering Department, Institute of Chemical Technology, University of Mumbai, Mumbai, India 3Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore Abstract Purpose of review: This review reports on the latest advances and recent developments in thermal drying technologies of various bio-origin and agricultural products. Future trends and research and development (R&D) needs in various areas related to thermal drying in postharvest operations are also highlighted. Findings: This paper reviews recent advances and developments in thermal drying technologies from different angles, namely drying strategy, drying medium, method of handling and mode of heat input. Various drying technologies are discussed in this paper, which the authors regard as future technologies as they are relatively new and more research efforts are needed to make them industrially viable. Directions for future research: Some suggestions are made regarding future R&D directions Keywords: intermittent drying; superheated steam drying; heat pump drying; agitated fluidised bed drying; spray drying; freeze drying; microwave vacuum drying; solar drying Stewart Postharvest Review 2008, 1:1 Published online 01 February 2008 doi: 10.2212/spr.2008.1.1 |