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Drying Characteristics and Color Analysis of Betel Leaves (Piper betle L.)

Author: Ramya Murugesan* and R. Marx Nirmal

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Abstract

Piper betle are deep green, heart-shaped leaves, commonly known as paan. Betel leaves are perishable in nature, and every year, the post-harvest losses are around 35 to 70%. To minimise spoilage, drying is the most commonly used preservation technique. The present study compares the effects of solar and cabinet drying on the physico-chemical properties of the pachaikodi and vellaikodi varieties belonging to Tamilnadu. The betel leaves are dried at 50°C in a cabinet tray dryer and also dried in solar tunnel drying. The dried leaves were grinded and packed in airtight LDPE pouches and stored at 4°C. The proximate analyses and Quality attributes like color and chlorophyll content were measured. In terms of proximate analysis and quality attributes, maximum nutrients were preserved in tray-dried betel leaves. The moisture content, carbohydrates, protein, fat, fiber and total ash of tray-dried pachaikodi variety are 3.49a±0.13, 46.58d±0.06, 16.10a±0.01, 13.25d±0.03, 8.9c±0.02 and 10a

Keywords

Drying of betel leaves, Pachaikodi, Vellaikodi, Drying kinetics, Colour measurement, cabinet tray dryer, solar tunnel dryer.

Conclusion

Drying is the most popular preservation technique that produces a shelf-stable product for longer storage. Drying also minimises post-harvest losses and reduces the spoilage of perishable products. Cabinet tray drying and solar tunnel drying are the most popular methods of drying. The retention of nutrients like carbohydrates, protein, fat, fiber, ash and quality attributes like colour and flavour was good in cabinet tray drying as compared to solar tunnel drying. Solar drying also results in the degradation of cholorophyll content. It can be concluded that cabinet tray drying was a better method of dehydration when compared to solar tunnel drying.

References

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How to cite this article

Ramya Murugesan and R. Marx Nirmal (2022). Drying Characteristics and Color Analysis of Betel Leaves (Piper Betle L.). Biological Forum – An International Journal, 14(1): 350-355.