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A new equation for the external mass transfer coefficient during vegetable drying is presented. The equation is validated for carrot slices dried under natural convection conditions. A finite element method is used to solve the non-linear boundary value problem modelling the carrot drying process. The mean value of the mass transfer coefficient is 1 371 10 -7 m s -1 during the initial phase of drying 4-mm-thick fresh carrot slices in air at 60°C. It is concluded that the Neuman-type boundary condition for mass transfer during carrot drying gives a much better fitting of measured results to the computer simulation results than does the Dirichlet-type one. The Dirichlet-type boundary condition used for simulation of the process of carrot drying under natural convection conditions may lead to unrealistic results.