An approach to model the drying mechanical effects occurring in a single sphere, representing a food model, is proposed. The mechanical properties were evaluated through compression tests and drying kinetics data were obtained under a laminar fluid flow. The Fickian model was used to represent the moisture content profiles and the mechanical model was formulated from elasticity theory. Deformations and cracks predicted from numerical solution were in agreement with experimental observations. This work helped to understand the relationship between mass transfer, shrinkage, stresses, strains and physical degradation. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.