Experimental research on drying characteristics of Litchi

The changes of inner temperature and drying characteristics of rind, membra ne, flesh and stone of Litchi were investigated under constant relative hum idity of drying medium at different temperatures at atmospheric and decompr ession conditions. Results show that the membrane resists moisture :from mo ving the flesh or stone to rind. Decompression drying is helpful to the moi sture evaporation of the fruit; when the moisture content lowers to a certa in critical point, the drying rate is higher than that of atmospheric: dryi ng. Drying curves are very different from those of seeds drying or particle drying. In the drying process, temperature of Litchi whole fruit rises qui ckly at the beginning to a maximum region, then falls to a minimum before r ising again slowly. All the phenomena are due to the composite structure of Litchi.