Medium and short-wave infrared drying: Principles, applications, and future trends

Medium and short-wave infrared drying (MSWID) is a new drying technology, widely used for drying agricultural products, such as fruits, vegetables, and edible fungi. MSWID is superior to conventional drying technologies due to its high energy efficiency, uniform heating, and high product quality. This method can be combined with other drying techniques to improve the penetration degree, drying rate, and product quality, including vacuum freeze-drying, differential pressure flash, air impingement, and microwave vacuum drying. This review comprehensively investigates and discusses the principles, characteristics, and applications of MSWID with/without other techniques for agricultural products. The effects of three parameters (drying temperature, radiation power, and distance) on the drying kinetics and product quality are discussed in detail. The combination of MSWID with other drying methods is also summarized, providing new insights into MSWID applications.