Evaluation of mechanical properties of dried fish from convective, and pulsed microwave convective drying: A comparison study

Pulsed microwave convective drying (PMCD) is a proven drying system for processing various types of food. However, the effect of PMCD is not well investigated for fish and their mechanical properties are yet to be uninvestigated. In this study, we explore a wide variety of mechanical properties (drying and rehydration kinetics, stiffness, modulus of elasticity, shrinkage, and color) by PMCD and convective drying (CD) methods and compare them at different drying conditions. It was found that PMCD required around 15–20 min to finish drying, but CD required almost 300 min. The visual color of pulse ratio PR3 of PMCD dried sample was better that of CD and other samples. The modulus of elasticity and stiffness values of PMCD was lower than the CD. Additionally, PMCD outperforms CD in terms of sustainability thanks to power consumption and net carbon emission. Overall, as compared to fish processed using CD, the PMCD offers a superior choice controlling the mechanical properties of the food.