Ramos, Inês N.Brandão, Teresa R. S.Silva, Cristina L.M.2015-05-142015-05-142014RAMOS, Inês N.; BRANDÃO, Teresa R. S; SILVA, Cristina L. M. - Effect of pre-treatments on solar drying kinetics of red seedless grapes (cv. Monukka). International Journal of Food Studies. ISSN 2182-1054. Vol. 3 (2014), p. 239-2472182-1054http://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/17599Two di erent pre-treatments were applied to grapes prior to drying in a mixed mode solar dryer. Grapes were blanched in water and in a 0.1% sun ower oil water emulsion, both at 99 C and for approximately 15 seconds. Several models were tested to t the experimental data of drying curves but the normalized Newton model gave the best t results. Samples blanched in hot water or in the 0.1% edible oil emulsion had faster drying rates than untreated samples. Contrary to what was expected, pre-treating with the 0.1% edible oil emulsion did not increase the drying rate to a higher extent than blanching. Pre-treatments did not give a noteworthy di erence in the total drying time. However, they had an important role in accelerating initial drying rates, thus preventing moulds and bacterial growth and consequently increasing farmers' income.engPre-treatmentsSolar dryingKineticsModelingRaisinsjournal article10.7455/ijfs/3.2.2014.a9