Cubed Pumpkin Drying Using Fluidization Technique

There are many drying techniques that are used to produce the pumpkin powder for instance freeze dryer, spray dryer and tray dryer at the drying temperature below 100°C.  At the mention of the dryer and drying temperature, the result is low production which operates is complicated.  Therefore, this study aims to determine optimum condition for cubed pumpkin drying using a fluidization technique.  The quality of the dried pumpkin was considered in terms of color and water activity.  The pumpkin was sliced by a machine with a size of 3x3x3 mm. 400 g sample was dried at temperatures of 120, 130 and 140°C with a superficial air velocity of 4.0 m/s and dried until the moisture reached 12±1% dry basis.  The results showed that the drying rate varied with drying temperature.  The appropriate condition was at 120°C which had a water activity of 0.56, and the color lightness (L*) is 72.29 (b*) is 61.30 better than hot air-drying techniques used to produce the pumpkin powder in the market.