Experimental Investigation on Drying of Elettaria cardamomum in Biomass Fired Indirect Forced Convection Drier

India, the largest producer of cardamom in the world with share of about 54% exports, which is about 1000 metric ton in each year to the Western and Arabic countries. It is important to dry the cardamom capsules as soon as possible to prevent the loss of flavour after harvest. Mould does not grow on the capsules and the bright green colour is retained if cardamom is properly dried. In this study, freshly harvested small cardamom capsules were dried in a biomass fired indirect forced convection drier in a cardamomestate at Kattappana, Idukki district of Kerala. The temperature of the drying air during the initial period of drying was 45°C and thereby gradually raised to 80°C towards the end. Experiments were conducted to test the performance of drier by drying of Elettaria cardamomum (Small cardamom) during the month of March 2015. It was found that, during drying period, 350 kg of fresh small cardamom capsules with the initial moisture content of 81.5%w.b was dried to a final moisture content of 8.25% w.b within 23 hours. Efficiency of the drier was calculated as 27.3% during its operation. The quality evaluation of the products showed that developed drier is suitable for the drying of small cardamom. Cost of drying one kilogram of small cardamom was estimated as Rs. 4.93/-