This study investigates the effects of electrohydrodynamic (EHD) drying technology on the drying kinetics, microstructure, quality, and nutritional components of carrots, along with conducting experiments on EHD drying under different voltage gradients. The experimental results showed that EHD drying technology could significantly increase the drying rate and the effective moisture diffusion coefficient. Within a certain range, the drying rate was directly proportional to the voltage. When the range was exceeded, the increase in voltage had a minimal effect on the drying rate. In terms of quality, the EHD drying group's color, shrinkage rate, and rehydration performance were superior to the control group, and different voltages had no significant effect on the shrinkage rate and rehydration performance. The retention of carotenoids in the EHD drying group was 1.58 to 2 times that of the control group. EHD drying had a negative impact on the total phenolic content and vitamin A content of dried carrot slices. Based on the results of infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the dehydrated carrot slices showed wrinkling due to water loss, with numerous pores, a generally intact structure, and retained functional groups. EHD drying had a significant impact on the secondary structure of proteins, where an increase in voltage led to an increase in disordered structure, with a smaller proportion of disordered structure in the lower voltage group compared to the control group, and a similar proportion of disordered structure between the higher voltage group and the control group. Results from low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) showed that EHD drying could retain more bound water compared to the control group, with the best retention of cellular bound water at a voltage of 26 kV and the best retention of cellular immobilized water at a voltage of 38 kV, indicating the superiority of EHD drying in preserving cellular structure. This study provided a theoretical basis and experimental foundation for the application of electrohydrodynamic drying technology to carrot drying, and promoted the practical application of EHD drying technology.
Keywords: SEM; carrot drying; electrohydrodynamics; fourier infrared spectrum; low-field NMR.