variavel0=<b>Francisco Nivaldo Aguiar Freire</b> - nivaldo_2000@yahoo.com.br Universidade Federal do Ceará
<b>Maria Eugênia Vieira Silva</b> - eugenia@les.ufc.br Universidade Federal do Ceará
<b>Abstract.</b> Various agricultural and animal products, such as fish, are lost due to the lack of appropriate conditioning and storage. The dehydrated food commercialization has increase, not only in the national but also in the international markets because of its easiness in handling and storage. This article presents an experimental and analytical study of the drying process of a fish (Lutjanus purpureos) in a warm air current. To accomplish the work, an experimental bench developed by the authors was used. The basic components of the bench are: a metallic tunnel with thermal isolation, a data acquisition system, an accurate scale, and a set of five electrical resistances of 1000W each. The experimental data (dry bulb temperature and relative humidity of the air current, the weight of the sample, and the flow speed) were collected in previously defined time intervals and used in the determination of the rate of drying as a function of the sample humidity in the dry base. The results show the diffusive nature of the humidity flow in the fish during the falling rate period.
<b>Keywords.</b> Drying, Drying of pargo fish, Rate of drying curve.