A passive solar dryer was used to study the drying options of loquat (Eriobotrya Japonica) fruit slices, El-Sukary
variety. The experimental work was carried out during May 2009 at El-Banger district, which located at the west of
Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt. The unpeeled loquat fruits were cut into flat slab to the required thicknesses that were
3, 5, and 7 mm depending on each required experiments. The moisture loss rates from loquat slices (3, 5 and 7 mm)
were about 0.25, 0.32 and 0.42 g/hr, respectively. The results appeared that the solar intensity, drying temperature and
sample thicknesses were the major variables affecting the drying rate. For evaluating the solar collector efficiency, the
heat balance of solar collector was applied. The maximum result of solar collector efficiency was about 52%.