Low temperature and high velocity (LTHV) application in drying: Characteristics and effects on the fish quality Original Research Article

The present study investigates the cold air drying characteristics and their effects on fish quality. For this purpose, a single layer drying with low temperature and high velocity (LTHV) is applied, and 200 g each of the salted rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) is used under the following experimental conditions: drying temperature (4,10,15 and 20 °C), velocity (7 m/s) and relative humidity (∼40–50%). Based on the experimental data for the salted fish samples dried, some key characteristics of such a drying process, namely moisture content, dimensionless mass loss, drying rate, drying time and the best drying temperature are determined and discussed in detail. In addition, some food quality indicators such as mass shrinkage, total volatile nitrogen, thiobarbituric acid, free fatty acids, and microbiological properties are investigated for the salted fish samples. Consequently, an optimum drying temperature is found as 4 °C since the fish samples have the best quality. Therefore, it is suggested that LTHV method be applied to prevent or minimize the microbiological and biochemical decompositions of the fish.