Innovative Zeolite‐Based Vacuum Drying of Strawberries: Kinetic and Modeling Analysis

ABSTRACT This study aims to compare zeodration, an emerging athermal dehydration technique, with conventional convective drying at 40°C, focusing on their effectiveness in drying strawberries. Zeodration operates under vacuum at near‐ambient temperature (25°C), utilizing zeolites as highly selective adsorbents for water vapor. The method was applied to both strawberry slices and whole fruits. Experimental results on 5 mm thick, 30 mm diameter slices showed that after 10 h of zeodration, the moisture content was reduced to 0.062 g/g (dry basis), demonstrating its potential as a low‐temperature alternative to convective drying. Drying kinetics were evaluated using diffusion‐based and semi‐empirical models. The two‐term diffusion model effectively described moisture transport, with an effective diffusivity of 1.87 × 10 −10 m 2 /s, while the Midilli model provided the best overall fit, showing the highest R 2 and lowest RMSE and χ 2 values. In addition to kinetic analysis, product quality was assessed through measurements of water activity, color, texture, and dimensional stability. Water activity decreased from 0.84 ± 0.022 to 0.52 ± 0.028 after zeodration, indicating improved microbial stability. Moreover, zeodration better preserved color and texture compared with convective drying. These results demonstrate the potential of zeolite adsorption drying as a gentle and efficient method for producing high‐quality dried strawberries, bridging kinetic modeling with quality preservation.