Abstract
Antarctic krill (Euphausua superba) need to undergo freeze-drying to facilitate lipid extraction, but freeze-drying is time-consuming and energy-intensive, resulting in high processing costs. Microwave heating technology can reduce freeze-drying time and lower energy consumption costs. The objective of this study was to establish a drying kinetic model to help the microwave freeze-drying process by predicting krill drying time and evaluating the impact of the drying process on krill quality. The results showed that changing the microwave power did not alter the total energy requirement to complete drying when the sample weight was fixed. The total energy requirement for microwave drying increases with the sample weight. Comparing the three methods of freeze-drying (FD), microwave freeze-drying (MWFD), and hot-air drying at 55 °C (HAD) showed that they took 18, 0.67, and 16 h, respectively, to reach the drying endpoint for krill. Overall, HAD resulted in browning, shrinkage, and quality degradation of krill due to its high temperature and long duration. While the appearance and active ingredient contents of FD krill are slightly better than those of MWFD krill, FD requires a longer process and more energy. MWFD can reduce drying time by 20 times and energy consumption by 95% compared to FD.