Thermophysical properties and thermal behavior of leafy vegetables packaged in clamshells

CFD assisted investigation of mechanical juice extraction from cassava leaves and characterization of the products

Cassava is grown because of its starchy roots, but the leaves being rich in protein are mostly underutilized. For protein recovery, mechanical juice extraction from cassava leaves and the extraction process was evaluated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation. The influence of input variables such as nozzle diameter and rotational speed of the screw was investigated in relation to process efficiency. The highest green juice extraction yield (81.0%) from cassava leaves and dry matter of press cake (61.3%) were achieved by using 4 mm nozzle diameter and 18 rpm screw speed. The protein content of the cassava leaves, press cake, juice sediment, and juice supernatant was found to be 31.5%, 27.7%, 26.2%, and 12.4%, respectively. The crude protein, cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, and total phenolic content mainly accumulated in the press cake. The screw pressing concentrated the amino acids in the press cake and the juice sediment.

Measurement of thermal properties of white radish (R. raphanistrum) using easily constructed probes

Thermal properties are necessary for the design and control of processes and storage facilities of food materials. This study proposes the measurement of thermal properties using easily constructed probes with specific heat capacity calculated, as opposed to the use of Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) or other. These probes were constructed and used to measure thermal properties of white radish in the temperature range of 80–20°C and moisture content of 91–6.1% wb. Results showed thermal properties were within the range of 0.71–0.111 Wm^-1 C^-1 for thermal conductivity, 1.869×10⁻⁷–0.72×10⁻⁸ m²s^-1 for thermal diffusivity and 4.316–1.977 kJ kg^-1C^-1for specific heat capacity. These results agree with reports for similar products studied using DSC and commercially available line heat source probes. Empirical models were developed for each property through linear multiple regressions. The data generated would be useful in modeling and control of its processing and equipment design.