**7. Conclusions and prospects**

In conclusion, drying is a valuable approach to reducing post-harvest losses in agriculture, offering numerous benefits such as lower moisture content, extended shelf life, and inhibition of microbial growth. By choosing appropriate drying techniques tailored to specific crops, quality objectives, and available resources, successful post-harvest preservation can be achieved, supporting sustainable agricultural practices. Based on the literature review, the following conclusions can be drawn:

• Among the various drying methods, solar drying is a sustainable and costeffective solution for preserving agricultural products while maintaining their nutritional quality and enhancing market value. Solar dryers, including open sun drying, direct and indirect solar dryers, and mixed-mode and hybrid-mode solar dryers, harness the sun's energy efficiently, reducing reliance on non-renewable energy sources and contributing to environmental sustainability.

*Assessment of Solar Dryer Performance for Drying Different Food Materials: A Comprehensive… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.112945*


Solar drying presents a diverse range of methods to efficiently remove moisture from various substances while harnessing the sun's energy. It offers a sustainable and effective solution to preserve agricultural products, minimize post-harvest losses, and reduce food waste. By incorporating solar drying into agricultural practices, we can promote greener and more resilient food processing, supporting a cleaner and sustainable future for food preservation worldwide.

Future research directions should focus on further optimizing solar drying techniques, exploring innovative designs and materials, and integrating advanced control systems to enhance the performance and versatility of solar dryers. Additionally, investigations into solar drying technologies' economic feasibility and scalability are warranted to facilitate widespread adoption in both small-scale and large-scale food processing operations. Future research on modeling drying kinetics of food substances could focus on developing novel mathematical models, incorporating multi-scale modeling approaches, applying artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques, studying non-conventional drying methods, investigating coupled phenomena, analyzing quality attributes, and integrating sustainability considerations. These efforts aim to improve the accuracy and efficiency of drying models, account for complex interactions during drying, predict drying behavior under different

conditions, optimize energy consumption, and minimize environmental impact. Such research will contribute to advancements in drying technologies and enhance the understanding of drying processes in the food industry.
