Hot air drying of coconut residue: shelf life, drying characteristics, and product quality

The longest and the shortest shelf lives of coconut residue based on microbial analysis were more than 140 and less than 3 days when varied the moisture content from 0.03 to 0.25 g water/g dry matter, respectively. Drying characteristics and quality of coconut residue were determined at various drying temperatures (50-80˚C) and layer thicknesses (5-10 mm). These drying factors significantly affected drying time, whiteness and oil content of coconut residue. The highest temperature and the smallest thickness resulted in the shortest drying time (70 min). As compared to fresh sample, drying for less than 200 min gave whiter coconut residue and all dried samples had higher oil content.