Materials and Methods Sample Preparation A sufficient amount of Pork Belly cuts obtained from the local market.

The obtained pork belly cuts are boiled in a 1.5M salt solution for 30 mins. The pork belly cuts are pat dried for 20 minutes and were sliced by to three dimensions mainly; 1 x 5 x 3, 1.5 x1 x3, and 2 x 5x 3. The samples are then placed on a cabinet drier which is exposed to different drying temperatures mainly 50 degree Celsius, 60 degree Celsius and 70 degree Celsius. Drying experimentation The sample is analyzed on a Novasina Moisture Analyzer Meter in order to analyze the initial moisture content of the sample. A cabinet dryer is used for the drying experiment. Perforated trays are used to support the product. The trays to be used in the experiment are first cleaned. The mass of the empty tray are weighed and tared. The samples are initially weighed in order to obtain the initial weight of the samples. The wet bulb temperature is also measured throughout the experiment. The temperatures are set according to the temperatures set on the experiment. The samples are weighed on different time intervals. The samples are weighed in 10 minute intervals on the 1st hour. The samples are weighed in 20 minute intervals for the 2nd hour. The samples are weighed for 30 minute intervals for the 3rd hour. The samples are weighed for 1 hour intervals until the 3 equal consecutive weighing are observed.

Analysis of Data The data are gathered and analyzed. The following curves are plotted mainly a). Drying Curve Measurement of moisture content vs. time. Obtained directly from weight loss-time data. b) Drying rate curve Graph of drying rate against time. Obtained directly from humidity-time data. c) Time-independent or Krischer curve- Drying rate against moisture content. Usually derived from the combination of drying curve and drying rate curve which is used as the basis for the characteristic curve scaling method. The amount of moisture content (MC) in a product is designated on the basis of the weight of water (i.e. dry or wet basis). On dry basis (%) it can be calculated as follows (Ceylan et al., 2007; Haque & Langrish, 2005; Saeed et al., 2006; Upadhyay et al., 2008): % Moisture Content dry basis (MCdb) = Weight of water (Ww)/ Weight of dry matter (Wd) x .1 And % Moisture Content wet basis (MCwb) = Ww/(Ww+Wd) Moisture Ratio (MR) Moisture ratio is the ratio of the moisture content at any given time to initial moisture content which is relative to the equilibrium moisture content which is calculated as. MR = (M-Me)/(Mo-Me) Wherein M = Moisture Content at any given time Me= Moisture Content at equilibrium Mo= Initial Moisture Content

Drying Rate The drying rate can be expressed as (Ceylan et al., 2007; Doymaz, 2007; Ozbek & Dadali, 2007): DR = (Mt+dt-Mt)/dt Wherein Mt+dt = moisture content at (t+dt) (gw.gdm-1) Mt = moisture content at time t (gw.gdm-1) dt = Change in time