According to a research, keeping moisture content of cereal grains at low levels, of 10-12%, make safe storage of about 5 years possible. However, we talk about drying which is directly connected with time consuming and quality maintenance.

Analyzing A Few Drying Methods

In natural drying, the product is dried by sunlight, spread in open areas, being exposed to the environmental for a long period of time, cross contamination and occupying large areas.

Artificial or mechanical drying consists in submitting a layer of grains to a heated air current, which can be through electric energy or the use of fuels such as gas, wood or coal. At the beginning of drying, free water is evaporated rapidly, but after this the process becomes slow to evaporate the water from the interior of the product to the surface. The main controls are temperature, to avoid the loss of grains due to high temperatures, and aeration, with the aim of reducing the temperature and moisture of the grains during storage, avoiding the deleterious effects of moisture migration to the surface of the grain. This drying process takes long and can damage grain quality

Microwave drying is an alternative method for drying and disinfecting a wide variety of grains, as it avoids the effects of conventional air drying that can cause serious damage to flavor, color and nutrients and can reduce bulk density and rehydration capacity of dried food product

During microwave drying there must be transportation of water from the interior of the solid to its surface, for evaporation to occur. Microwave can achieve the reduction of drying time and energy consumption.

MAX Industrial ovens can be built for industrial (continuous or batch processes), laboratory or domestic use. Industrial equipments present greater process control and cost-effectively for large scale of material. For grains and cereals drying and disinfestations purpose, you can contact with MAX Industrial Microwave.