Effect of Brine Pretreatment on the Thin-Layer Drying Characteristics and Moisture Diffusivity of Blue Whiting (Micromesistius poutassou) Fillets
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63746/njtd.v23i2.4194Keywords:
Blue whiting, Brine pretreatment, Colour parameters, Drying kinetics modeling, Moisture diffusivity, Feature extraction, Thin-layer dryingAbstract
Traditional handling and open-air drying of panla (blue whiting, Micromesistius poutassou) are often inefficient, resulting in prolonged drying times, uneven moisture removal, quality deterioration, and increased microbial risks. This study investigated the drying kinetics, mathematical modelling, and physicochemical changes of brined blue whiting fillets subjected to hot-air drying at 60–100 °C following immersion in sodium chloride solutions (0–200 g/L). Moisture reduction was monitored gravimetrically, and the drying parameters were fitted to six thin-layer models. The effective moisture diffusivity (De) was estimated from Fick’s second law, and colour changes were determined using the CIE Lab* system. Results show that drying time decreased with increasing temperature and salt concentration, with moisture diffusivity values for unbrined fillets ranging from 5.59 × 10?¹? to 5.29 × 10?? m²/s, while brined samples exhibited higher diffusivity up to 4.96 × 10?? m²/s at 200 g/L NaCl, with an activation energy of 17.94 kJ/mol. The Two-term Exponential model best described the drying kinetics (R² = 0.9987–0.9997; RMSE ? 0.0081), outperforming the other models. Brining significantly influenced lightness, chroma, and hue, with the most pronounced changes observed at 50–100 g/L NaCl. These findings demonstrate that brine pretreatment enhances drying efficiency, accelerates moisture transfer, and improves product quality, offering a cost-effective strategy for preserving panla as a marketable protein source.
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