Effect of drying techniques on drying kinetics, antioxidant capacity, structural, and thermal characteristics of germinated mung beans (Vigna radiata)

The present study aimed to investigate the effect of tray and vacuum drying on drying, bio-functional, structural, and thermal characteristics of germinated mung beans. Eleven drying models were fitted to moisture ratio data. The drying time in vacuum drying was 21.05% lesser than the tray drying at 50 degrees C. Results also indicate that modified Henderson and Pabis was the best-fitted model for germinated mung beans drying. Vacuum drying also possesses higher total phenolic content, antioxidant activity, and rehydration rate compared to tray drying. The FTIR and XRD spectra showed the conformational changes in dried germinated mung beans. Microscopy images illustrate that germination leads to disorientation of beans structure and more damage on vacuum dried beans showed high porosity in structure, which facilitates faster moisture transfer. Higher denaturation temperature and lesser enthalpy reflect the higher thermal stability of vacuum dried mung beans. Overall, vacuum drying is a promising drying method for germinated mung beans with higher functional and thermal characteristics and lesser structural damage. Germinated mung bean seeds are the treasure of bioactive compounds. However, the presence of microorganisms due to their high water activity makes them unacceptable for consumers. Drying is a traditional approach to increase the shelf-life of food products. Hence, vacuum drying has been used to dry the germinated mung bean seeds with minimal quality loss. Therefore, this data can be useful for food processing industries to develop a high-quality functional product.