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MATHEMATICAL MODEL FOR PREDICTION OF

MOISTURE CONTENT IN JALAPEO PEPPER (Capsicum
frutescens) MODELO MATEMTICO PARA LA
PREDICCIN DEL CONTENIDO DE HUMEDAD EN
CHILE JALAPEO (Capsicum frutescens) MODELO
MATEMTICO PARA A PREDICCIN DO CONTIDO
DE HUMIDADE EN CHILE JALAPEO (Capsicum
frutescens)
a

L. A. Ochoa-Martnez , J. A. Gallegos-Infante , J Morales-Castro , H. Medrano-Roldn

a

& N. E. Rocha-Guzmn

Instituto Tecnolgico de Durango, Departamento de Ingeniera Qumica y Bioqumica. ,

Blvd. Felipe Pescador 1830 Ote., Durango, Dgo. C.P., 34080, Mxico
Published online: 14 Oct 2009.

To cite this article: L. A. Ochoa-Martnez , J. A. Gallegos-Infante , J Morales-Castro , H. Medrano-Roldn & N. E.

Rocha-Guzmn (2004) MATHEMATICAL MODEL FOR PREDICTION OF MOISTURE CONTENT IN JALAPEO PEPPER (Capsicum
frutescens) MODELO MATEMTICO PARA LA PREDICCIN DEL CONTENIDO DE HUMEDAD EN CHILE JALAPEO (Capsicum
frutescens) MODELO MATEMTICO PARA A PREDICCIN DO CONTIDO DE HUMIDADE EN CHILE JALAPEO (Capsicum
frutescens), Ciencia y Tecnologia Alimentaria, 4:3, 154-157, DOI: 10.1080/11358120409487754
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/11358120409487754

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Cienc. Tecnol. Aliment. Vol. 4, No. 3, pp 154-157, 2004

Copyright 2004 Asociacin de Licenciados en Ciencia y Tecnologa de los Alimentos de Galicia (ALTAGA).

www.altaga.org/cyta
ISSN 1135-8122

MATHEMATICAL MODEL FOR PREDICTION OF MOISTURE CONTENT

IN JALAPEO PEPPER (Capsicum frutescens)

MODELO MATEMTICO PARA LA PREDICCIN DEL CONTENIDO DE HUMEDAD

EN CHILE JALAPEO (C apsicum frutescens)

Downloaded by [University of California Santa Cruz] at 22:15 16 November 2014

MODELO MATEMTICO PARA A PREDICCIN DO CONTIDO DE HUMIDADE

EN CHILE JALAPEO (Capsicum frutescens)

Ochoa-Martnez, L. A.; Gallegos-Infante, J. A.*; Morales-Castro, J; Medrano-Roldn, H.; RochaGuzmn, N. E.

Instituto Tecnolgico de Durango, Departamento de Ingeniera Qumica y Bioqumica. Blvd. Felipe Pescador 1830 Ote.
Durango, Dgo. C.P. 34080 Mxico.

*Corresponding author. e-mail: jinfante1@starmedia.com

Recibido: 26 de Junio de 2003; recibida versin revisada: 14 de Octubre de 2003; aceptado: 16 de Octubre de 2003
Received: 26 June 2003; revised version received: 14 October 2003; accepted: 16 October 2003

Abstract
A model to predict the moisture content in jalapeo peppers (Capsicum frutescens) has been presented. The
product was dried under five drying temperatures (50, 60, 70, 80 and 95C), and these experiments provided data for
model formulation. Analysis of the simulated results have indicated that there are two possible mechanisms for jalapeo
peppers drying, both of which are a function of the temperature. It was found that one mechanism occurs below 60C and
the other at temperature above 80C. 2004 Altaga. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Capsicum, drying mechanisms, model

Resumen
En este trabajo, se presenta un modelo para predecir el contenido de humedad en chile jalapeo (Capsicum
frutescens). El producto se deshidrat a cinco diferentes temperaturas (50, 60, 70, 80 y 95C), cuyos datos experimentales
se utilizaron en la formulacin del modelo. El anlisis de resultados, indic que existen dos posibles mecanismos en el
secado del chile jalapeo, los cuales estn en funcin de la temperatura. Se encontr que un mecanismo ocurre por debajo
de 60C y el otro a temperatura por encima de 80C. 2004 Altaga. Todos los derechos reservados.
Palabras clave: Capsicum, mecanismos de secado, modelo

Resumo
Neste traballo,presntase un modelo para predeci-lo contido de humidade en chile jalapeo (Capsicum frutescens).
O producto deshidratouse a cinco diferentes temperaturas (50, 60, 70, 80 y 95C), cuios datos experimentais utilizronse
na formulacin do modelo. A anlise de resultados, indicou que existen dous posibles mecanismos no secado do chile
jalapeo, os cales estn en funcin da temperatura. Encontrouse que un mecanismo ocorre por debaixo de 60C e o outro
a temperatura por riba de 80C. 2004 Altaga. Tdolos dereitos reservados.
Palabras chave: Capsicum, mecanismos de secado, modelo

154

ALTAGA 2004

Ochoa-Martnez et al.: Mathematical model for prediction of moisture content in jalapeo pepper...
Table 1.- The equilibrium moisture content from desorption
experiments of jalapeo pepper (Average of three replicates).

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INTRODUCTION
The change in product moisture during the
dehydration of high moisture material like fruits and
vegetables is a complex problem. The interaction between
the moisture in the food and its surrounding atmosphere
is very important in many food processing operations like
drying, packaging and transportation (Raghavan and
Venkatachalapathy, 1999). Process modeling is of great
significance in the analysis of design and optimization of
dryers (Vagenas and Marinos-Kouris, 1992). The most
essential part of process model development involves
moisture removal from the system. Empirical kinetic
models involve parameters of a phenomenological nature,
although these parameters have no physical meaning.
Empirical models can be deduced from detailed
mechanistic ones under certain assumptions, or can be
formulated from experiments. Various kinds of models
have been proposed, such as physical dynamic models,
based on the diffusion mechanism, semi-empirical models
and empirical models. The model prediction accuracy is
an important issue in control, because the optimal value
may be very sensitive to modeling errors.
Mexico is a large producer of peppers, in large
varieties. Jalapeo pepper (Capsicum frutescens) is an
important condiment for everyday cooking to contribute
pungency and taste to foods. There is a great need to
improve the drying, handling and storage system in order
to enhance quality of processed jalapeo pepper.
The objetive of this work was to evaluate the
predictability of several drying models for the moisture
transfer, and to obtain the model parameter for this
product.

Temperature (C)
Xe

50

60

70

80

95

9.37 8.41 7.82 7.50 7.20

From these data no clear relation as a function of

temperature in the low range, can be identify. However,
at high temperature, an equilibrium moisture lower in the
jalapeo pepper is observed; these data were then used in
the analytical solution of equation 1.
Model development
The empirical models chosen to describe the moisture
transfer within dried jalapeo can take the form of a general
linear ordinary differential equation, in which the right side
of the equation contains an empirical mass transfer coefficient
multiplied by the corresponding driving force.
-dX/dt = (K X) + Xe

(1)

where X is the material moisture content and K is

the drying constant. The equilibrium moisture content is
the ordinate (Xe ), and t is the time.
The analytical solution of the above model when
the conditions remain constant is:
X = Xo exp (-K t) + Xe

(2)

When Xo is the initial material moisture = 88%

The effect of other variables can be embodied into
the empirical equation of Arrhenius-type:
1/K = Ao e Ea/RT

(3)

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Where Ao is a parameter of the model
(dimensionless), Ea is the activation energy (J/mol), R is
the gas constant (8.3 J/mol K), T is the temperature
(Kelvin) and K is the reaction rate.
In the case of one-variable problems, the most
frequently used method for estimating the parameters of
a model is by minimizing the mean standard deviation:

The dimensions of the whole jalapeo pepper used

in this study were 8 cm large, 3.3 cm upper width and 2.1
cm lower width. The slices had 5-7 mm upper width, 2-3
mm lower width and 2-3 mm thickness. The drying
experiments were carried out in an air tray dryer at 50,
60, 70, 80 and 95C. The air velocity was kept constant at
2.5 m/s. The drying process last until a final moisture
content of 6% was reached. The initial and final moisture
content was determined by the oven method. The
equilibrium moisture content (Xe ) was determined by
measuring the weight changes of jalapeo peppers at five
temperatures until equilibrium moisture content was
attained. The relative humidity was set by the saturation
of sodium chloride. Three samples of jalapeo (2 g each
one) were placed in glass bottles of 1 l with saturated salt
solution, the sealed bottle was then placed in a
temperature-controlled chamber. At a certain time interval,
the sample was removed for weight change determination.

SR2 = eij 2/ N

(4)

Where eij is the residual created when comparing

the model calculations for the experimental point i and
for the replicate j and N is the number of experimental
points.
The mean standard experimental error for all
experiments is given by the following expression:
SE2 = n i Si/N

(5)

Where n i is the number of replicates, Si is the

standard deviation of the experimental points with each
experiment.
Another form of equation 1 is as follows:

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The experimental results of equilibrium moisture
content are shown in Table 1.

dX/dt = -K (X Xe )

155

(6)

Cienc. Tecnol. Aliment. Vol. 4, No 3, pp 154-157, 2004

ISSN 1135-8122

2004 ALTAGA

Table 2.- Parameter of the model of Equation 1.

50C
0.0045
0.00016
0.9740
0.7212

Estimate (K)
Std. Err.
R
R(of residuals)

60C
0.00513
0.00021
0.9705
0.7287

70C
0.00726
0.00035
0.9726
0.7130

80C
0.00989
0.00061
0.9717
0.649

95C
0.02799
0.00262
0.9842
0.635

Table 3.- Parameters of Arrhenius model excluding one temperature each time.

Ao

Ea (J/mol)

R of residual

0.000469*
0.015
0.024
0.035
0.064

358349*
25794.8
24604.9
23583.3
21948.1

0.978
0.967
0.916
0.901
0.939

0.174
0.133
0.173
0.179
0.093

Table 4.- Summary of the model (Equation 7). *No convergence was reached.

Drying
temperatures

Associated
parameter
to the model
90.92
114.56
87.89
91.59
88.58
79.33

50, 60, 70, 80, 95

60, 70, 80, 95
50, 70, 80, 95
50, 60, 80, 95
50, 60, 70, 95
50, 60, 70, 80

Associated
coefficient
to drying time ()
-0.41
0.07
-0.42
-0.44
-0.47
-0.35

Associated
coefficient
to weight ()
-0.65
-0.96
-0.68
-0.61
-0.58
-0.67

-3.2

Associated
coefficient to drying
temperature ()
*
-0.08
*
*
*
*

-4.5
-4.6

-3.6

-4.7

-4

-4.8
Ln Km

Ln Km

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Temperature
excluded (C)
50
60
70
80
95

-4.4

-4.9
-5
-5.1

-4.8

-5.2

-5.2

-5.3

-5.6
0.00265

0.00275

0.00285

0.00295

0.00305

-5.4
0.00282

0.00315

0.00286

0.0029

0.00294

0.00298

0.00302

1/T (K)

1/T (K)

Figure 1. The Arrhenius model of jalapeo pepper drying.

Figure 2. The Arrhenius model for jalapeo pepper drying with the
lowest and highest temperature excluded.

The results obtained from equation 1 are shown in

Table 2. From this Table it is clear that the drying constant
increases when the drying temperature increases. The
estimates in all cases were significant, in all cases the value
of R was high. The problem was present in the residuals,
especially in the medium zone, but there was no problem
in both, low and high moisture regions.
For the Arrhenius model (Equation 3), the results
were as follows:

temperature (one temperature each time). The results

are shown in Table 3.
Interestingly, the stability of parameters
indicates that, excluding the low temperature, the
numerical values are significantly different. This fact
indicates that two mechanisms are present in the system,
because in other cases the parameters were stable.
However, the model was not effective (c.f. the values
of R residual) as it is shown in Figure 1. From this figure
it follows that the Arrhenius equation cannot fit the data
to linear behavior at 50 and 95 C but in the medium
range, the Arrhenius model was very good (Figure 2);
this fact indicates that the regions of drying was
different in the zone of lower temperature and in the
zone of highest temperature tested in this experiment.
The empirical model to describe the moisture
content, can take the form of a linear algebraic equation.

Ao = 0.0265 (SE=0.037)
Ea = 24368 J/mol (SE = 3120.4)
R = 0.923
R for residuals = 0.156
The value of residual did not show a random
behavior, thus, this model was not effective in this
prediction. As a result, the same matrix of data was
used, excluding those corresponding to each

H = dt + W +Td + E

156

(7)

Downloaded by [University of California Santa Cruz] at 22:15 16 November 2014

ALTAGA 2004

Ochoa-Martnez et al.: Mathematical model for prediction of moisture content in jalapeo pepper...

This model where H = moisture content (%),

has only three variables (drying time (dt, min), weight
(W, g), drying temperature (Td, C) and three associated
parameters. The model features high determination
coefficient, low associated error, and no co-linearity.
The stability of the parameters was evaluated
eliminating one drying temperature each time
(Montgomery and Peck, 1992). The results are
presented in Table 4.
From the above results, a good stability of the
associated parameters to the model can be seen, with
the exception of one group. This group may then be
eliminated for the lowest temperature drying, as the
same of Arrehnius equation (See Table 3).
The model was verified by cross validation
methodology from Cochran and Cox (1982) modified
by Gallegos-Infante and Rico-Martnez (1999). A group
of data not taken into account during the model
construction, was proved in the model and the results
showed high confidence in the prediction of the
moisture content.

time was found. Unexpectedly however, drying

temperature was not a significant variable, though it
affected the mechanisms under which the drying was
performed.

BIBLIOGRAFA
Cochran, W. G.; Cox, G. M. 1992. Diseos
Experimentales. Pp. 163-164. Ed. Trillas.
Mxico.
Gallegos-Infante, A.; Rico-Martnez, R. 1999. The
kinetics of the solidification of highly
supersaturated solutions of palmitic acid in oleic
acid: a comparison between two models. Journal
of the Serbian Chemical Society 64 (7-8) 471 481.
Montgomery, D. C.; Peck, E. A. 1992. pp 223.
Introduction to linear regression analysis.
Second edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Raghavan, G. S. V.; Venkatachalapathy, K. 1999.
Shrinkage of Strawberries During Microwave
Drying. Drying Technology 17 (10), 2309 - 2322.
Sawhney, R. L.; Pangavhane, D. R.; Sarsavadia, P.N.
1999. Drying kinetics of single layer Thompson
seedless grapes under heated ambient air
conditions. Drying Technology 17, 215-236.
Vagenas, G. K.; Marinos-Kouris, D. 1992. Use of the
Wilson equation for the prediction of the
sorptional equilibrium of sugar-based foodstuffs.
Fluid phase equilibria 78, 191-207.

CONCLUSIONS
The Arrhenius model was not effective to cover
all range of drying tempratures for jalapeo pepper,
but shows good agreement in the medium range of
temperature (60, 70 and 80 C). As expected, the
presence of an inverted relationship between the
moisture content in jalapeo peppers and the drying

157