The moisture content of a fresh sample was approximately 4.85 0.72 g/g dry basis. Figure 1 shows the
drying curves of the samples undergoing hot air drying at various temperatures. As expected, the drying rate
at higher temperatures was faster than that at lower temperatures. This was due to drying at higher
temperatures results in a larger driving force for heat and mass transfer leading to higher moisture diffusivity
values than that at lower temperatures. The equilibrium moisture content (EMC) and time needed to dry a
sample to the desired moisture content of less than 0.1 g/g dry basis are listed in Table I. EMC of the samples
was in the range of 0.050-0.065 g/g dry basis. The results showed that higher drying temperatures required
shorter drying time to reach the desired moisture content.