2Deficit irrigation is one of the irrigation management methods that is used to increase Water Use Efficiency. Considering the internal plant adaptability characteristic to water shortage, Partial Root drying method has been introduced in recent years. In this field research improvement of Water Use Efficiency for Soybean was determined. This experiment which was conducted at four furrow irrigation treatments at the Research Field of Tehran University in Karaj in 2008, consists of full irrigation (100% soil moisture deficit compensation), conventional deficit irrigation at 50 and 75 percent soil moisture deficit compensation and Partial Root drying at 50 percent soil moisture deficit compensation with three replications. The amounts of irrigation used were exactly compensation level (negligible loss). Results indicated that Water Use Efficiency according to Duncan's Multiple Range Test at the five percent level of probability there was a significant difference between partial root drying treatment (PRD50%) and conventional deficit irrigation treatment at fifty percent soil moisture deficit compensation (DI50%),. Water Use Efficiency in PRD50% compared with DI50%, DI75% and full irrigation increased by 48.3%, 61.9% and 70.1% respectively.

Deficit irrigation is one of the irrigation management methods that is used to increase Water Use Efficiency. Considering the internal plant adaptability characteristic to water shortage, Partial Root drying method has been introduced in recent years. In this field research improvement of Water Use Efficiency for Soybean was determined. This experiment which was conducted at four furrow irrigation treatments at the Research Field of Tehran University in Karaj in 2008, consists of full irrigation (100% soil moisture deficit compensation), conventional deficit irrigation at 50 and 75 percent soil moisture deficit compensation and Partial Root drying at 50 percent soil moisture deficit compensation with three replications. The amounts of irrigation used were exactly compensation level (negligible loss). Results indicated that Water Use Efficiency according to Duncan's Multiple Range Test at the five percent level of probability there was a significant difference between partial root drying treatment (PRD50%) and conventional deficit irrigation treatment at fifty percent soil moisture deficit compensation (DI50%). Water Use Efficiency in PRD50% compared with DI50%, DI75% and full irrigation increased by 48.3%, 61.9% and 70.1% respectively.

In this paper, drying Iranian seedless white grape (sultana) was considered using a laboratory batch dryer. The effects of pretreatment and temperature on the drying rate of grape at constant air velocity were studied. Pretreatment solutions containing different alkaline materials with different concentrations and temperatures were considered. Dipping grape into an alkaline solution increases the drying rate ubstantially. Increasing the air temperature of the dryer from 60°C to 70°C accelerated the drying rate (drying time decrease) of the pretreated grape. Depending on the pretreatment and air temperature conditions. the drying process took about 450 to 900 minutes. The shortest drying time and the best quality dried product were obtained with grapes dipped in a solution of potassium carbonate 5% at 42°c. The mean apparent diffusivity of moisture for K2Co3 pretreatment was calculated at 50, 60 and 70°C, and the values were fitted into an Arrhenius type model. Moisture sorption isotherms of currant were determined at 20, 30 and 40°C using static gravimetric methods. The modified Halsey equation was used to predict experimental data for a water activity range of 0.1 - 0.85.

The intermittent drying characteristics of an Iranian popular paddy rice variety were experimentally investigated to determine the drying kinetics and obtain the effective moisture diffusivity. A lab-scale fluidized bed dryer was designed and constructed to enable obtaining the required results while controlling critical drying parameters. The effects of drying temperature and tempering period on drying kinetics and moisture diffusivity were studied. The results showed a significant effect on drying performance and effective moisture diffusivity by adding tempering stage. drying rate improved sharply by implementing the tempering stage, increase of drying air temperature as well as the tempering duration. Several thin layer drying models were fitted separately to experimental data of each drying stages namely pre-tempering and post-tempering and suitability of these models were examined using the statistical analysis. The Midilli and Tow-Term model were found to be the most appropriate one for the first and second drying stages, respectively.

The drying characteristics of mallow (Malva sylvestris L. ) in a microwave dryer were examined at different microwave power levels. To dry 30 g of mallow leaves, microwave power levels of 360, 450, 540, 720, and 900 W were used. The initial moisture content of samples was 6. 31± 0. 01 g water/ g dry base. To determine the kinetic parameters, which were calculated by comparing the ratio of the difference between the initial and final moisture contents to the equilibrium moisture content, experimental data were fitted to seven distinct models. At various microwave power levels, the moisture diffusivity and energy consumption were measured. Based on the results, increasing microwave power from 360 to 900 W resulted in a drying time reduction between 14 and 5 minutes. A comparison of the proposed models demonstrated that the logarithmic model (MR= a. exp(-k. t)+b) provided the best fit because it had the highest coefficient of determination (R2), the lowest sum of squared errors (SSE), and the lowest root mean square error (RMSE). This model can therefore be used to estimate the moisture content of mallow leaves during microwave drying. Also, the maximum and minimum energy consumptions for drying with 360 W and 720 W microwaves were 84. 0 and 67. 5 W. h, respectively. Moreover, the effective diffusivity of mallow leaves varied from 1. 098×10− 10 to 3. 532×10− 10 m2/s for different microwave powers.

In this study, microwave drying conditions of quince pomace optimized with respect to quality attributes (moisture content, color change and consumer acceptance). Response surface methodology (RSM) technique was used to develop models to respond to the microwave power (100, 2000, 300 W), and microwave time (5, 10, 15 min). The models obtained from the responses were adequate and acceptable because the coefficient of determination R2 of the models was relatively high. Microwave power of 200W and microwave time of 8 minutes were concluded as the optimum conditions prior to air-drying at 50°C. To describe the drying process, the experimental data for moisture loss was converted to moisture ratios. The effective moisture diffusivity increased with increase in microwave power and its values varied from 1.83-4.87×10-9 m2/s. Using an exponential expression based on Arrhenius equation the activation energy and was found to be 16.41 W/mm.