Experiment for drying Thomson seedless grape with a multifunctional equipment composed of series-parallel solar energy collectors for drying fruits and vegetables

Experiments for drying Thomson seedless grape with a multifunctional equipment which was composed of series-parallel solar energy collectors and designed by authors themselves were conducted under climate condition of the Hami city of Xinjiang area. Drying effect of the equipment was compared with that of traditional air-curing barn. The results showed that the drying period of raisins by using the equipment was decreased from 45 d to 15 d compared with that by using the traditional air-curing barn. The drying quality was also increased. The ratio of green raisins was increased from 35% to 79.19%. The results indicate that the equipment is suitable for making raisins, and the clean energy——the solar energy can be used for industrial drying of fruits and vegetables at the same time.