Abstract
Drying pomegranate peels, a by-product of juice extraction, offers an effective means to preserve bioactive compounds while reducing waste. This study investigates the influence of drying temperature and layer thickness on the drying kinetics, thermodynamic properties, and modeling of pomegranate peels using a hybrid solar dryer (HSD) and a conventional oven dryer (OD). Fresh peels with an average initial MC of 325.53% (dry basis) were dried under three temperatures (50, 60, and 70 °C) and three-layer thicknesses (1, 2, and 3 cm). The HSD included a temperature and humidity control unit and an auxiliary electric heater to ensure stable conditions. Weight loss during drying was recorded at regular intervals to track moisture content changes until equilibrium MC (EMC) was reached. Experimental data were used to calculate effective moisture diffusivity (EMD) using Fick's second law and activation energy through Arrhenius-type relationships. Thermodynamic parameters-Gibbs free energy, enthalpy, and entropy-were also determined. Additionally, twelve thin-layer drying models were fitted to the data using nonlinear regression, with performance evaluated using R², RMSE, and χ². Results showed that final MCs ranged from 2.15 to 2.80% (OD) and 2.92-3.01% (HSD). EMD increased with temperature and thickness, reaching up to 12.17 × 10⁻⁹ m²/s (OD) and 11.66 × 10⁻⁹ m²/s (HSD) at 70 °C for 3 cm layers. Activation energy varied with thickness, ranging from 25.76 to 43.55 kJ/mol (OD) and 25.82 to 41.09 kJ/mol (HSD). Among all models, the Modified Midilli II model best described the drying behavior. Thermodynamic analysis indicated that Gibbs free energy increased with temperature, while enthalpy and entropy decreased, reflecting improved energy efficiency at higher drying temperatures. The results demonstrate that optimized drying conditions can enhance the preservation and quality of pomegranate peels, promoting their use as functional ingredients in the agri-food industry.