Industrial avocado processing generates underutilized byproducts rich in bioactive compounds with potential functionality. This study evaluates convective drying for stabilization, focusing on the effects of temperature (45 to 75°C), airflow (0.5 to 2.5 m·s¿¹), and thickness (3 to 9 mm). Results demonstrated that sample thickness was the dominant kinetic regulator: 3 mm samples dried fastest (100¿270 min), while 6 mm exhibited extreme variability (165¿810 min) due to inconsistent moisture pathways. The Page model successfully described the drying kinetics (R2'0.995), while effective moisture diffusivity ranged from 2.79 × 10¿10 to 2.25 × 10¿9, driven by enhanced molecular mobility at higher temperatures. Bioactive conservation showed thickness dependence; chlorogenic acid peaked at 181.53 µg·g¿¹ under high-temperature short-time conditions (75°C, 3 mm, 1.5 m·s¿¹). Principal component analysis (PCA) segregated variance into three principal components: PC1 (46.6% variance) grouped antioxidant metrics (TPC, DPPH, ABTS) with chlorogenic acid and quercetin, linking preservation to short drying times; PC2 (16.5%) revealed kinetic-bioactivity trade-offs; and PC3 (15.6%) highlighted ferulic acid¿s unique behavior. Multivariate optimization identified 45°C, 3 mm, and 1.85 m·s¿¹ as the optimal conditions (desirability = 0.724), balancing bioactive integrity with process efficiency. These insights enable scalable valorization of waste streams through potentially energy-efficient protocols that mitigate thermal degradation and align with circular economy principles.
