Drying Kinetics of Sliced Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) in a Solar-Biomass Integrated Drying System

What is it about?

Turmeric is one of the main spices of India which is 80 % of the world’s supply of commercial turmeric in fresh weight per year. A natural convection solar-biomass integrated drying system (IDS) was designed and developed. The system was capable of generating adequate and continuous flow of hot air of temperature between 55 and 60C from ambient temperature of 28-30C during experimentation. Blanched turmeric rhizomes were successfully dried.

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Why is it important?

Use of solar energy as well as bio-waste material simultaneously for drying purpose is an effective method of drying to reduce drying cost, provided quality is maintained. Use of a simulation model is an important tool for prediction of performance of drying systems. The work carried out established the quality retention of dried turmeric while satisfying widely accepted simulation models.