Recent Advances in Sustainable Food Drying Technologies

This chapter explores the critical role of sustainable drying technologies in advancing energy efficiency and reducing environmental impacts within the agri-food sector. Though widely used, traditional drying methods face significant challenges, including high energy consumption, weather dependency, and product quality degradation. Innovative solutions such as solar drying, bioenergy integration, heat pump systems, and hybrid technologies are analysed for their potential to balance efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and sustainability. Advanced modelling tools like computational fluid dynamics (CFD), artificial intelligence (AI), and digital twins are highlighted as pivotal for optimising drying kinetics, predicting system behaviour, and minimising resource use. The chapter further emphasises life cycle assessment (LCA) as a framework to evaluate environmental footprints and guide decarbonisation strategies, such as electrification and renewable energy adoption. By bridging theoretical insights with practical applications, this work underscores the necessity of systemic change and interdisciplinary approaches to transform drying processes from energy-intensive operations into sustainability benchmarks.