Abstracto
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ABSTRACT:
One of the main causes of losses in onion production is attributed to the poor drying of the product, since not all regions have the same climate, therefore, not all techniques have successful results everywhere. For example, there are daily changes in temperatures and humidity that cause fungal outbreaks in the storage and transport stages, which generate a negative economic impact on small, medium, and large producers. Motivated by this, in this article we propose an onion drying system for the postharvest stage with the aim of obtaining a better quality and more durable product, using technologies that guarantee the right environment in the drying process. Our contribution is to incorporate in the drying process a programmable and self-sustaining control system based on Arduino, thus presenting a new alternative that is more environmentally friendly and advantageous compared to other conventional industrial-type onion drying systems. Initial tests were carried out to obtain a database of temperatures given within the drying structure and temperature simulations were also carried out using the Rhinoceros software, giving us a theoretical range of temperature changes that may occur inside the structure during the hot season of the year. At the end of this article, a series of preliminary results obtained from the first tests carried out in the field and the simulations are presented, and the expected results with the implementation of the prototype of the proposed system are discussed.
AUTHORS:
Carolina Batista
Hector Riande
César Almanza