DOI: 10.36347/sjet

Pages: 1-4

An experiment to evaluate the drying rate of pretreated yam slices at varying temperatures was conducted at the Federal University of Technology, Akure. The yam slices were subjected to blanching by soaking in hot water at temperatures of 800C, 900C and 1000C for 10 minutes and later dried in a cabinet type dryer fitted with an electric heater. The drying process was done at three levels of temperatures (1000C, 1100C, 1200C) and time (4hrs, 5hrs and 6hrs). The experimental results show that the blanching temperature have significant effect on both the drying rate and protein content at 5 level of significance It was also observed from the result of the analysis that samples blanched at 800C had the highest rate of water loss and protein content when compared to other treatments. The least values of drying rate was obtained at the 900 C blanching temperature.