International Journal of Food

Engineering
Volume 1, Issue 4 2005 Article 1

Drying of Red Pepper (Capsicum Annuum):

Water Desorption and Quality

Susana Simal, University Illes Balears

Carme Garau, University Illes Balears
Antoni Femenia, University Illes Balears
Carmen Rosselló, University of Illes Balears

Recommended Citation:
Simal, Susana; Garau, Carme; Femenia, Antoni; and Rosselló, Carmen (2005) "Drying of Red
Pepper (Capsicum Annuum): Water Desorption and Quality," International Journal of Food
Engineering: Vol. 1: Iss. 4, Article 1.
DOI: 10.2202/1556-3758.1022

©2005 by the authors. All rights reserved.

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 Drying of Red Pepper (Capsicum Annuum):
Water Desorption and Quality
Susana Simal, Carme Garau, Antoni Femenia, and Carmen Rosselló

Abstract
Capsicum annuum samples were dried at different air-drying temperatures, ranging from 30
to 90ºC. Modelling of the drying curves was satisfactory when the Page model (average
percentage of explained variance was 99.0 ± 0.2%) was used, whereas the Peleg model provided a
less accurate simulation (average percentage of explained variance was 91± 14%). Both k and n
parameters of the Page’s model exhibited a clear temperature dependence. In fact, n parameter
varied linearly with the temperature (r2=0.92), whereas k parameter followed an Arrhenius
relationship (r2= 0.96). An activation energy value of ca 27 kJ/mol was estimated using the Page
equation. Air-drying temperature influenced the final quality of the dried red pepper (paprika).
According to the results, drying within the range of 50 to 75ºC, would be the optimum conditions
to achieve a final product with the best colour characteristics (highest ASTA and chroma values)
and also, with the highest antioxidant capacity.

KEYWORDS: Red pepper, drying, color, quality, antioxidant, Peleg’s model, Page’s model

Author Notes: The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support of CICYT
(AGL2003-03889) and the Conselleria d’Agricultura i Pesca of the Balear Government

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1. INTRODUCTION
Simal et al.: Drying of Red Pepper
There is a worldwide growing interest in the application of natural colorants for food products. Red
pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) or paprika has been used since ancient times as a colorant either to
enhance or modify food color (Uquiche, et al., 2004). To assess the economic value in commercial
trade of pepper fruit (Capsicum annuum L.) and their processed products, i.e. paprika and oleoresins,
the color quality and quantity are the parameters most often applied (Perez-Galvez et al., 2004).
Pepper fruits contain not only carotenoids as natural antioxidants but also other components like
ascorbic acid, which is present in relative high amounts in ripened fruits. Ascorbic acid might play a
positive role to ensuring the stability of the final product and therefore their color characteristics. Since
final water activity and processing time depend on the manufacturing procedure, it is clear that the
drying system will have an important influence on pigment stability (Ramesh et al., 2001).
The product quality is often negatively affected by the drying procedure; in particular, the
conditions of the drying air (Ho et al., 2002). In the literature, different studies have been carried out in
order to identify the main carotenoids present in red pepper and also to investigate the pigment
stability during drying and storage. Most of the work done is mainly based on the determination of
different analytical parameters and their effects on the antioxidant capacity of red pepper (Minguez-
Mosquera et al., 2000; Perez-Galvez et al., 2004).
Several studies based on the modelling of pepper drying kinetics and also about the influence of
drying conditions on quality characteristics have been published. Thus, Kiranoudis et al., (1992)
proposed an empirical model applied to red pepper drying; drying kinetics were examined by
introducing one-parameter empirical mass transfer model, where the characteristic parameter (drying
constant) was a function of the process variables.
Doymaz and Pala, (2002) studied the drying kinetics of red peppers using different pretreatments
and drying air conditions. Drying curves of sliced peppers were modelled by using the Page’s and
exponential models. Comparing the r2 values for both equations, it was concluded that the Page’s
equation simulated better the drying characteristics than the exponential equation. These authors
worked only with air drying temperatures of 50 and 60°C, evaluating the color by using the CIELAB
coordinates. However, none statistical treatment was performed in order to determine the significance
of the differences among the different samples regarding to the it color properties. Otherwise, some
authors have also proposed diffusional models. In the falling rate period, moisture transfer from
peppers was described by applying the unsteady state Fickian diffusion model, and the apparent
moisture diffusion coefficients were calculated (Kaymak-Ertekin, 2002). Moreover, the effective
moisture diffusivity was estimated for unblanched and blanched red pepper samples byTurhan et al.
(1997). Different diffusion behaviour has been found for shredded and whole red peppers (Sanjuan et
al., 2003).
In the literature, some studies based on the influence of the storage conditions on the color and
other quality parameters of paprika can be found (Lee et al., 1992, Gómez-Ladrón de Guevara et al.,
1998). The effects of the drying method on the carotenoid content of pepper fruits of the Bola variety
have been studied by comparing two industrial drying processes, slow drying by wood combustion
and fast drying using hot air (Mínguez-Mosquera et al., 1994). Kim et al., (2002) evaluated the levels
of capsaicinoids and carotenoids and ASTA colour values in Korean red pepper powders. These
authors concluded that parameters like ASTA and chroma (Cab*) values can be regarded as very
effective for the convenient assessment of colour quality in red pepper powder.
Several studies analyse the susceptibility to oxidation of camelina oil (Abramovic and Abram,
2005) or the antioxidant activities of the soy extract (Liu et al., 2005) by using the Rancimat test,
which measures the induction periods. Matsufuji et al., (2004) examined the antioxidant effects of
paprika pigments on the oxidation process of linoleic acid during decoloration in storage at 37°C. The
addition of paprika pigments avoided the oxidation of linoleic acid during storage in the dark, and this
effect was markedly augmented when the pigment concentrations were increased.
However, there is not information about the influence of the air-drying temperature on the ASTA
parameter and on the antioxidant capacity of the paprika. Therefore, the aims of this study were, on the
one hand, to study the suitability of the Peleg’s and Page’s models to simulate the drying curves of red
pepper on a wide range of temperatures (from 30 to 90ºC) and, on the other hand, to evaluate1 the

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influence of the drying air temperature on the color and antioxidant capacity of the obtained paprika.
International
For the later purpose, Journalof
the usefulness of the
Food Engineering,
CIELAB Vol. 1 [2005],
parameters (a* andIss.
b*),4,ASTA
Art. 1 and antioxidant
protection factor (PF) as quality indicators, was evaluated.

2. MATERIALS AND METHODS

2.1. Raw material

Red peppers Capsicum annuum v. Tap de cortí, (moisture 4.8 g/g dm; ash 8.9 g/100 g dm and fat
content 14 g/100 g dm) autochthonous from the island of Majorca (Spain) were cut perpendicular to
the long axis and dehydrated at different air-drying temperatures (30°C, 50°C, 65°C, 75°C and 90°C).
In all cases, the final moisture content was 0.2 kg water/kg dm.

2.2 Drying experiments

Drying experiments were performed in a laboratory scale hot air drier (Simal et al., 1996)
operating at an air mass flux of 2.5 kg/(m2s) ensuring that drying was controlled by the internal
resistance and drying rate was not dependent on mass transfer from the solid surface to the gas phase.
The drier has an automatic temperature controller (±0.1°C). The air flowed perpendicular to the bed. A
monolayer loading was used. The average air room characteristics were of 22 ± 1°C and 68 ± 5%
humidity. Water losses were measured by weighing the basket and its content automatically. Three
replications of each experiment were carried out. After dehydration, pepper samples were ground with
a mill and sifted by a 0.5 mm aperture sieve.

2.3 Analytical methods

Initial and final moisture contents were measured by using AOAC method 22103 (AOAC,
1990). The recommended measure for the red color intensity is the ASTA value -American Spice
Trade Association- based on pigment extraction by acetone and espectrofotometric measure at 460 nm
(ASTA, 1985). Color of paprika samples was also determined according to the CIELAB coordinates
by using a Minolta (CR-300) spectrocolorimeter with specular component included, C illuminant, and
an observer with angle of 2º, as a reference system. The chroma (Cab*) parameter was calculated as
(Eq. 1):
2 2
C *ab = a* + b* (1)
The measurements of the antioxidant capacity were conducted in a Rancimat 679 Instrument
(Metrohm Ltd., Switzerland). The air flow rate and temperature were 20 l/h and 110 °C, respectively.
The oxidations took place on commercial sunflower oil, to which 10% of dehydrated pepper was
added. Thus, the protection factor for each sample (PF) was calculated by dividing its induction period
by that corresponding to the sunflower oil (Louli et al., 2004).

2.4 Statistical analysis

Statistical analysis was performed on pooled data by using the SPSS statistical software package.
One-way analysis of variance and Tukey’s analysis were used to determine the statistical significance
of differences of the experimental values.

2.5 Mathematical model

Peleg (1988) proposed a two-parameter sorption equation. This equation is known as the Peleg’s
model (Eq. 2):
t
W = W0 ± (2)
( 1 + 2 t)
DOI: 10.2202/1556-3758.1022 2

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 The constant k1 is a function of the temperature and it could be understood as a measure of the
water diffusivity meanwile k2 is aSimal et al.:characteristic
constant Drying of RedofPepper
the drying material. In equation 2, "±"
becomes "+" if the process is absorption or adsorption and "−" if the process is drying or desorption. It
has been observed a temperature dependence of the k1 parameter according to the Arrhenius equation
(Turham et al., 2002).
The Peleg model has been widely used to describe sorption processes in various foods: dasheen
leaves (Maharaj and Sankat, 2000); sago starch (Sopade and Kaimur, 1999); chickpea (Thurhan et al.,
2002).
Page’s empirical model is given by the following equation:
W − We
= exp(− t ) (3)
W0 − We
Both parameters, k and n, have been correlated to different process variables such as drying air
temperature and velocity, initial moisture content, among others (Azzouz, et al., 2002; Panchariya et
al., 2002).
This model has been used to accurately simulate the drying curves of potato slices (Akpinar et al.,
2003), rough rice (Iguaz et al., 2003), green bean, potato and pea (Senadeera et al., 2003) and kiwi
(Simal et al., 2005), among others.
In order to evaluate the goodness of the simulation provided by the proposed models, different
statistical parameters are usually used. In this study, the percentage of variance explained by the
mathematical model (Eq. 4) (Sanjuan et al., 1999) and the mean relative error (Eq. 5) (Nguyen et al.,
2004) were calculated.
⎡ S 2yx ⎤
% var = ⎢1 − 2 ⎥ 100 (4)
⎢⎣ S y ⎥⎦

100 N Ve i − Vc i
%E = ∑ (5)
N i=1 Ve
i
These modules have been used in the literature to evaluate the goodness of fit of different
mathematical models. It is generally considered that %E values below 10% give a good fit (Park et al.,
2002).

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The drying kinetics of red pepper (Capsicum annuum) were determined at 30, 50, 65, 75 and 90ºC for
average moisture contents from 4.8 to 0.2 kg water/kg dm. Drying curves up to 30000 s have been
represented in figure 1. These curves showed an important increase in the drying rate when the air
temperature increased. A significant reduction of the drying time needed to reach the final moisture
content, could be obtained by increasing the drying temperature, i.e. at 90ºC, 1.3 h were required to
obtain a moisture content of 1.3 kg/kg dm, whereas at 30ºC up to 16.5 h were necessary to reach the
some moisture content. Similar results have been described by different authors (Kaymak-Ertekin,
2002; Sanjuan et al., 2003).

3.1 Modelling

Experimental results of moisture variation with drying time were fitted to the proposed models,
the Peleg model (Eq. 2) and the Page model (Eq. 3). By using SOLVER, an optimization tool (GRG2
method) included in the Microsoft Excel 2002TM spreadsheet, the parameters of the different models,
which provided the lowest sum of the square differences between the experimental and the estimated
moisture values, were identified.
The k2 parameter of the Peleg model is related to the maximum water absorption capacity
(Thurhan et al., 2002). In the literature, no effect of temperature on k2 has been reported in water
absorption studies using the Peleg model (Hung et al., 1993; Abu-Ghannam and McKenna, 1997;
Maharaj and Sankat, 2000).
3

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The identified figures of the k1 and k2 parameters of the Peleg model are shown in Table 1. The
International
estimated figure for Journalof
the k2 parameter of the
Food Engineering,
Peleg model, inVol. 1 [2005],
agreement Iss.the
with 4, Art.
above1 studies, did not
show any temperature dependence being considered as a constant parameter (p < 0.05).

6
30˚C
50˚C
5 65˚C
75˚C
90˚C

4
W (kg/kg dm)

0
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000
t (s)

Figure 1. Drying curves of red pepper at different drying air temperatures, from 30 to 90°C.

Table 1. Identified figures for the two model parameters together with the percentages of error (%E)
and explained variance (%var).

Peleg model
k2= 0.17±0.02 Page model
(kg dm/kg water)
k1
T(°C)
(kg k (104)
%E % var n %E % var
dm/kg (s-n)
water/s)
30 4616.57 7.2 99.2 2.60 0.7812 7.12 99.0
50 1688.98 10.1 99.2 1.59 0.9915 5.80 99.8
65 858.89 11.7 98.3 1.02 0.9795 5.22 99.6
75 565.21 27.5 95.2 0.85 1.1827 2.02 99.9
90 315.05 26.9 75.8 0.42 1.2485 9.4 98.7
Average 17 ±10 93±10 6 ±3 99.4±0.5

The k1 parameter decreased as the temperature increased. Thus, the linearised Arrhenius equation
adequately interpreted the effect of the temperature (r2=0.99) (Eq 6).

ln( 1 ) = − 4926.6 + 7.8132 r2= 0.99 (6)

T + 273

The equilibrium moisture content value (We) was obtained by using both the room air conditions
and DOI: 10.2202/1556-3758.1022
the moisture isotherm obtained by using the GAB equation parameters proposed by Sanjuan et4 al.,

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(2003). The GAB model is recommended by numerous authors to describe the relationship between
Simal
the equilibrium moisture content, the et al.:
water Drying
activity ofthe
and Redtemperature
Pepper (Menkov and Durakova, 2005;
Simal et al., 2005).
Identified figures for the Page’s model parameters are also shown in table 1. As it is shown in
this table, in the case of the Page model, the constant n linearly increased with the drying air
temperature (r2=0.92). This temperature dependence could be represented through equation 7:

n =-0.0077 (T+273) + 0.56 r2= 0.96 (7)

The values obtained for the n parameter were similar to those presented by Doymaz and Pala,
(2002) for the drying of sliced peppers (1.12 and 1.22) using different pretreatments and drying air
conditions. However, no similarity was found for the k parameter. This difference could be attributed
either to the variety of red pepper and/or the pretreatment used before drying. The k values obtained
for the different temperatures, varied according to the Arrhenius type relationship (r2=0.96) (equation
8). Similar trend has been observed by most authors for the k parameter when studying a wide variety
of biological materials (Ezeiki and Otten, 1991; Hossain and Bala, 2002; Madamba, 2003).
Similar results were found by Madamba (2003) who concluded that the Page equation with an
Arrhenius type relationship for the temperature dependence of the drying constant k and n as a linear
function of the slice thickness, satisfactorily described the behaviour of coconut strips during hot air
(convective) drying stage.
⎛ - 26678.25 ⎞
k = 7.22 10 - 9 exp ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ (8)
⎝ R (T + 273 ) ⎠
From equation 8, a figure of 26.7 kJ/mol was estimated for the apparent activity energy. Values
of the same order have been proposed in the literature for the drying process of different foods: 26.2
kJ/mol for broccoli drying (Simal et al., 1998); between 49 and 54 kJ/mol for grapes (Azzouz et al.,
2002); 12.3 and 39.5 kJ/mol for potato and bean, respectively (Senadeera et al., 2003). Different
studies based on the water diffusivity in pepper proposed Ea values also similar 36.6 kJ/mol (Carbonell
et al., 1986), 28.4 kJ/mol (Turhan et al., 1997) and 44-61 kJ/mol (Sanjuan et al., 2003).
The accuracy of the Peleg and the Page models to simulate the drying curves of red pepper at
different temperatures was evaluated. By using the obtained figure for k2 parameter and equation 6
(Peleg model) and equations 7 and 8 (Page model), the moisture content variation during drying has
been estimated for the temperatures of 30, 50, 65, 75 and 90°C. Figures 2 and 3 show the
representation of the estimated vs experimental moisture contents of red pepper during drying through
both Peleg (figure 2) and Page (figure 3) models.
In order to mathematically evaluate the simulation, the percentage of explained variance and the
mean relative error obtained by comparing the experimental average moisture contents and those
given by the proposed models for the whole range of temperatures studied, from 30ºC to 90ºC, were
calculated. These results are shown in table 1. The average percentages of explained variance
calculated for the simulation of the drying curves through the Peleg and the Page model were
93 ± 10% and 99.4 ± 0.5%, respectively. The %E values were below 10% for all the temperatures
studied only in the case of the Page model.
Simulation of average moisture content during drying obtained by solving the Peleg model was
not satisfactory. As the drying air temperature increased, the %E increased and %var decreased until
figures that could be considered inadequate. Thus, the Peleg model could be useful to simulate the
drying curves of red pepper (var. Tap de cortí) only at temperatures up to 65ºC.
Otherwise, the Page model allowed an accurate simulation of the drying curves of red pepper for
the whole range of temperatures studied (from 30 to 90ºC) exhibiting a high concordance between
experimental and estimated moisture contents (figure 3 and table 1).
In conclusion, by using the empirical model of Page, an adequate description of the drying
curves of red pepper could be obtained, and although this is a simple empirical model, could represent
a useful tool for engineering purposes.

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 International
6 Journal of Food Engineering, Vol. 1 [2005], Iss. 4, Art. 1

estimated moisture content (kg/kg dm)

5

30°C
2 50°C
65°C
75°C
1 90°C

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
experimental moisture content (kg/kg dm)

Figure 2. Estimated vs. experimental moisture content. Simulation of experiments by using the Peleg
model.

6
estimated moisture content (kg/kg dm)

30°C
2 50°C
65°C
75°C
1 90°C

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
experimental moisture content (kg/kg dm)

Figure 3. Estimated vs. experimental moisture content. Simulation of experiments by using the Page
DOI: 10.2202/1556-3758.1022 model. 6

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3.2 Quality parameters
Simal et al.: Drying of Red Pepper
Results obtained in the measurements of the ASTA and chroma parameters for samples dried at
different drying air temperatures (30, 50, 65, 75 and 90ºC) are shown in figures 4 and 5, as means and
standard deviations. The results of the Tukey’s multiple range test analyses of these colour results
have been also included in these figures.

c
140 b, c

b
ASTA.

115
a

90
d

65
30˚C 50˚C 65˚C 75˚C 90˚C
Air-Drying Temperature

Figure 4. Effect of drying air temperature on the ASTA measurements in paprika samples (American
Spice Trade Assn. units). abcd: letters indicate differences among samples (p<0.05).

55

b b
b
50

c
C*ab

45 a

40

35
30˚C 50˚C 65˚C 75˚C 90˚C
Air-Drying Temperature

Figure 5. Effect of drying air temperature on the chroma (C ab*) of paprika samples. abc: letters indicate
differences among samples (p<0.05).
7

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 The ASTA and chroma values obtained in the present study varied from 77.7 to 138.4 (ASTA)
International
(figure 4) and from 43 to 50 Journal of Food
(chroma) Engineering,
(figure Vol. 1 [2005],
5), respectively. Iss. 4, Ramesh
However, Art. 1 et al. (2001)
proposed higher figures for the ASTA parameter (from 265 to 384) in paprika samples from another
variety of red pepper, obtained after separating the cups and rejecting seeds and stems. Doymaz and
Pala (2002) found lower chroma values (between 8.8 and 25.1) in paprika from peppers of different
varieties submitted to treatment (immersion in alkaline, ethyl oleate and/or K2CO3 solutions) before
drying.
It was observed a significant influence of the drying air temperature on the final colour of
paprika samples (p<0.05 for ASTA and p<0.05 for Cab*). The highest ASTA and chroma values
corresponded to the intermediate drying air temperatures, decreasing quality of the colour in samples
dried at 30 and 90ºC. This fact could indicate that both, duration of the process (drying at 30°C needed
16.5 h to reach the final moisture content) and a relatively high temperature (90°C) might contribute to
the degradation of the colored components of paprika. No significant differences were found among
the colour of the samples dried at 50, 65 and 75ºC. Thus, from the point of view of maintaining the
quality of the color, the whole range of temperatures (from 50 to 75ºC) could be adequate to drying
red pepper.
The influence of drying air temperatures on the antioxidant capacity of the dried samples was
also evaluated. The experimental results of the protection factor value (PF), as means and standard
deviations, together with the results of the Tukey’s multiple range test analyses are shown in figure 6.
All samples exhibited a PF higher than 1, which could be understood as indicative of the antioxidant
capacity of some components present in the obtained paprika.
Different references of the applicability of the Rancimat test, using sunflower oil as a substrate to
evaluate the oil stability can be found in the literature. Proestos et al. (2005) and Vági et al. (2005)
presented antioxidant capacity results (expressed as PF values) of plant extracts compressed between 1
and 5.1, and 1 and 1.5, respectively. Nevertheless, it should be pointed out that in the present study,
the antioxidant components were not extracted. Thus, the paprika was directly mixed with the
sunflower oil, being the Rancimat methodology an useful tool to evaluate the antioxidant properties of
paprika in a simple and fast way.
A clear influence of the process temperature on the PF results (p<0.05) was observed. The
highest PF figure was observed for samples dried at 75°C which duplicates the time of oil stability,
meanwhile PF values significantly decreased for samples dried at either lower and higher temperature
(30 and 90ºC) only increasing oil stability in 1.4.

2.2
c
2.0
b
1.8 b b
PF

1.6
a
1.4

1.2

1.0
30˚C 50˚C 65˚C 75˚C 90˚C
Air-Drying Temperature

Figure 6. Effect of drying temperature on the Antioxidant protection factor (PF) of the paprika
sample. abc: letters indicate differences among samples (p<0.05).

DOI: 10.2202/1556-3758.1022 8

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 These results agree with those obtained by Wicklund et al. (2005). These authors presented a
Simal et with
dependence of the antioxidant capacity al.: Drying of Red Pepper
the storage temperature. Total antioxidant capacity
(assessed by a Ferric Reducing Ability of Plasma (FRAP) assay) of all samples of jam stored at 4°C
exhibited a significant better color quality and FRAP-values than the samples stored at 20°C
(Wicklund et al., 2005).

4. CONCLUSIONS

From these results, it could be concluded that the three studied parameters -ASTA, chroma and
antioxidant protection factor (PF)-allowed the evaluation of the influence of the drying air temperature
on the final quality of the paprika. During red pepper drying, the air temperature seems to be an
important factor which should be taken into consideration to ensure the quality of the final dried
product. Furthermore, it could be inferred that in order to obtain an optimum final product, drying
should be carried out at an air temperature within the range from 50 to 75 ºC.

NOMENLATURE

Cab* Chroma
Ea Energy of activation kJ/mol
Empirical constant, (Page model)
k s−n
Empirical constant, (Peleg model)
k1 kg dm /kg water
Empirical constant, (Peleg model)
k2 kg dm /(kg water.s)
n Empirical constant (Page model)
Sy Standard deviation (sample)
Syx Standard deviation (estimation)
t Time s
T Temperature °C
Ve Experimental value
Vc Calculated value
W Average moisture content kg water/kg dm
We Equilibrium moisture content kg water/kg dm
W0 Initial moisture content kg water/kg dm
%E Mean relative error
%var Percentage of explained variance

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