Drying Kinetics in Solar Dehydration of Tomato

Of Mexican households, 44.6% reported some degree of food insecurity in 2023. 39.3% of annual tomato production is lost in the supply chain, even though it is among the top staples of the basic food basket. Solar drying tomatoes is a solution for their preservation. A thermodynamic study of four environmental variables was conducted to maximise the kinetics of solar drying of tomatoes during four seasons in 2024. Behaviours of ambient temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and irradiance were analysed by comparing their boxplot diagrams. Results of the statistical analysis were evaluated in drying kinetics. Relative humidity significantly modifies the kinetics and has a greater impact than irradiance, with a reduction in maximum (15.8 h) and minimum drying times (9.6 h) of up to 40%, and diffusion coefficients and efficiency were maximised by up to 32.1%. Characterising drying kinetics based on environmental conditions allows for maximising dehydrated tomato production, enhancing food security.