-5171ffc0182b6af927f-5889 20220924030552027 beie:beie director@blueeyesintelligence.org WEB-FORM International Journal of Innovative Technology and Exploring Engineering IJITEE 22783075 10.35940/ijitee https://www.ijitee.org/ 09 30 2022 11 10 Department of Agricultural Science and Technology, College of Technology, Bamidele Olumilua University of Education, Science and Technology, Ikere Ekiti. David Olumuyiwa Abodunrin Olubola Odunayo Olabinjo Department of Agricultural and Bio-system Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Akure. Ebenezer Rotimi Adefidipe Olusegun Obasanjo Centre for Engineering Innovations, The Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti. Dayo Hephzibah Oladebeye Department of Mechanical Engineering, The Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti. James Olaoye Akinyoola Kay Netlogic International Concept, Research Innovation Dept, Ado-Ekiti. This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of pre-treatment technique (blanching) and temperature on the drying characteristics of the red date variety. Thin layer drying experiments were conducted at varying drying temperatures of 50, 60 and 70 °C using electrical laboratory oven and cabinet dryer with a constant air velocity of 1.4 m/s. Other sets of samples were blanched at 50 °C for 2-, 5- and 10-minutes before being dried at varying drying temperatures of 50, 60 and 70 °C respectively under the same drying conditions. The drying process took place mainly in the falling rate period indicating that the mechanism that governed moisture movement in the samples was diffusion.The drying curve showed that blanched red date fruits had higher drying rate than the un-blanched samples. The result is useful for farmers, researchers, and the processing industry in designing a reliable machine for processing red date fruit which will boost the small and medium scale production of the fruit in Nigeria. 09 30 2022 43 48 CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 10.35940/BEIESP.CrossMarkPolicy www.ijitee.org true 10.35940/ijitee.G9228.09111022 https://www.ijitee.org/portfolio-item/g92280811922/