The objective of the present study was to evaluate the kinetics of cashew drying in a fixed bed dryer, using a planned experiment. The temperature varied from 35 to 65 ºC and air speed from 0.9 to 1.9 m s-1, forming the variables of the process. The cashew fruits were sliced in circular pieces of approximately 0.5 cm of thickness. By regression analysis, significant effect of the temperature was verified on the reduction of the moisture ratio of cashew and that the quadratic model was the one that best represented the experimental data, temperature being the controlling factor of the process.
Anacardium occidentale L.; experimental factorial; dryer
