Characteristics of Different Systems for the Solar Drying of Crops

Solar dryers are used to enable the preservation of agricultural crops, food processing industries for dehydration of fruits and vegetables, fish and meat drying, dairy industries for production of milk powder, seasoning of wood and timber, textile industries for drying of textile materials. The fundamental concepts and contexts of their use to dry crops is discussed in the chapter. It is shown that solar drying is the outcome of complex interactions particular between the intensity and duration of solar energy, the prevailing ambient relative humidity and temperature, the characteristics of the particular crop and its pre-preparation and the design and operation of the solar dryer

Response surface methodology optimization of vacuum-fried gold kiwifruit slices based on its moisture, oil and ascorbic acid contents

Response surface methodology was used to investigate the effects of a higher level of maltodextrin (MD) (40–70%) as a pretreatment for gold kiwifruit slices and the temperature and time used during vacuum frying of the samples on the moisture, oil and ascorbic acid contents of the products. The moisture content of vacuum-fried gold kiwifruit slices decreases with increases in frying temperature. The oil content of the sample increases with increases in frying temperature and time. The ascorbic acid content of the sample decreases with increases in frying temperature and MD level. When processing vacuum-fried gold kiwifruit slices, there is a need to use frying temperatures of 72.0–76.3C, frying times of 35.0–65.0 min and an MD level of 40% in order to achieve a product with moisture contents of 8.4–8.9% (dry basis) and acceptable qualities. The use of response surface methodology enabled the derivation of mathematical models for describing the effects of the independent variables on the dependent variables for vacuum-fried kiwifruit. Vacuum frying is one of the latest preservation method applied to fruits. This method processes the fruits at lower temperatures and reduced pressure, which enables the production of dried products with superior sensory and nutritional qualities. The information provided in this work will be very useful in producing vacuum-fried gold kiwifruit slices at optimal pretreatment and vacuum-frying conditions

Optimisation of vacuum frying of gold kiwifruit slices: application of response surface methodology

Response surface methodology was used to investigate the effects of the level of maltodextrin (MD), frying temperature and time on the moisture, colour and texture properties of the vacuum-fried gold kiwifruit slices and to determine the optimised conditions for vacuum frying. The moisture content of vacuum-fried gold kiwifruit slices decreased with increasing frying temperature and frying time. The colour change of the product increased with increasing frying temperature. The browning index of the product increased with increasing frying temperature and frying time. The breaking force of the product gave higher values when processed at middle range of frying temperature and MD level. When processing vacuum-fried gold kiwifruit slices, there was a need to use frying temperatures of 72.0–76.3 C, frying times of 35.0–65.0 min and an MD level of 40% to achieve products with acceptable moisture, colour and texture properties

Acute dilated cardiomyopathy in the setting of catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome and thrombotic microangiopathy: A case series and review

Catastrophic antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (CAPS) is a rare form of antiphospholipid syndrome, an autoimmune condition characterized by vascular thromboses, pregnancy loss, and antiphospholipid (aPL) antibodies. Diagnosis of CAPS relies on thrombosis of at least three different organs systems over 1 week, histopathological evidence of small vessel occlusion, and high aPL antibody titers. In a subset of precipitating circumstances, activation or disruption of endothelial cells in the microvasculature may occur along with cardiomyopathy. We present two cases of CAPS‐associated dilated cardiomyopathy at our institution, focusing on disease management, pathophysiology, and treatment. These patients were of Southeastern Asian descent, raising the possibility of genetic polymorphisms contributing to the development of cardiomyopathy. Both met CAPS criteria and both demonstrated clinicopathologic thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) and complement activation and developed severe dilated cardiomyopathy with shock. Complement activation plays an important role in the development of CAPS and may be important in the pathogenesis of CAPS‐associated cardiomyopathy. Clinical suspicion for TMA as a pathophysiologic mechanism of unexplained heart failure in CAPS is important and increased awareness of cardiac side effects is necessary so that early treatment can be initiated to halt further cardiac and systemic complications