LAUSR

Abstract The present study evaluates the effects of hot air drying (HAD) and direct solar drying (DSD) on drying kinetics and properties of turmeric. Obtained results unveiled higher effective diffusivity (1.98 × 10−8 - 13.1 × 10−8 m2/s) and lower drying time (3.5 h) for DSD turmeric than HAD (2.19 × 10−8 - 2.67 × 10−8 m2/s and 4.5 h). Page and diffusion models were the best-suited models for turmeric drying. Browning index was reduced by 25.65 and 21.53% for DSD and HAD samples resulting in better color retention in DSD. The differences in hue angles between DSD (67.53° ± 0.30) and HAD (68.22° ± 0.11) were significant revealing superior yellow color in solar-dried turmeric (p