TY - JOUR
T1 - Drying Characteristics and Quality Analysis of Medicinal Herbs Dried by an Indirect Solar Dryer
AU - Al-Hamdani, Anfal
AU - Jayasuriya, Hemanatha
AU - Pathare, Pankaj B.
AU - Al-Attabi, Zahir
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to thank Sultan Qaboos University for their financial support under the internal grant project with code: IG/AGR/SWAE/20/01.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors.
PY - 2022/12
Y1 - 2022/12
N2 - Considering the solar radiation status in Oman, a low-cost, indirect, stand-alone, forced-convective solar dryer was developed to dry medicinal herbs, which are sensitive to direct sun. The hot air flow was obtained using a solar-panel-powered blower and air passing through a black-body solar collector. This drying process could extend the shelf life of herbs while preserving their medicinal and nutritional (physicochemical) properties and adhering to food safety and hygiene practices. This study investigated the benefits of an indirect solar drying technique on the retention of quality attributes of mint and basil used in medicinal applications. Herbs used during drying could be subjected to changes in their physicochemical properties such as color, water activity (Aw), total soluble solids (TSS), phenol content, antioxidant capacity, and moisture content (MC), and, thus, results were compared with fresh herb samples. The dryer chamber-maintained temperature and relative humidity regimes of 30–50 °C and 21–95% and the expected final moisture content (wet basis) was 10%. The dryer showed improved physicochemical quality parameters and the retention of green color with parameter ranges of Aw 0.44–0.63, phenol content (increase) 1705–8994 mg/100 g DM, and antioxidant capacity (increase) 0.61–0.67 µmol/g DM, respectively. This study showed the ability of developed solar dryers to preserve the physicochemical properties of medicinal herbs during drying and can extend to other food products.
AB - Considering the solar radiation status in Oman, a low-cost, indirect, stand-alone, forced-convective solar dryer was developed to dry medicinal herbs, which are sensitive to direct sun. The hot air flow was obtained using a solar-panel-powered blower and air passing through a black-body solar collector. This drying process could extend the shelf life of herbs while preserving their medicinal and nutritional (physicochemical) properties and adhering to food safety and hygiene practices. This study investigated the benefits of an indirect solar drying technique on the retention of quality attributes of mint and basil used in medicinal applications. Herbs used during drying could be subjected to changes in their physicochemical properties such as color, water activity (Aw), total soluble solids (TSS), phenol content, antioxidant capacity, and moisture content (MC), and, thus, results were compared with fresh herb samples. The dryer chamber-maintained temperature and relative humidity regimes of 30–50 °C and 21–95% and the expected final moisture content (wet basis) was 10%. The dryer showed improved physicochemical quality parameters and the retention of green color with parameter ranges of Aw 0.44–0.63, phenol content (increase) 1705–8994 mg/100 g DM, and antioxidant capacity (increase) 0.61–0.67 µmol/g DM, respectively. This study showed the ability of developed solar dryers to preserve the physicochemical properties of medicinal herbs during drying and can extend to other food products.
KW - color retention
KW - drying kinetics
KW - indirect solar dryer
KW - medicinal herbs
KW - phenol content
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U2 - 10.3390/foods11244103
DO - 10.3390/foods11244103
M3 - Article
C2 - 36553845
AN - SCOPUS:85144656426
SN - 2304-8158
VL - 11
JO - Foods
JF - Foods
IS - 24
M1 - 4103
ER -