Optimization of nutritional composition and antioxidant potential in corn silk using different drying techniques

Corn silk, generally discarded as agricultural waste derived from maize crop, is significantly dense in essential nutrients along with good antioxidant potential. Corn silk is also an excellent source of phenols and flavonoids. However, there are limited studies on suitable techniques for drying corn silk. The aim of the present study was to identify the effect of different drying techniques on nutritional composition and antioxidant potential of corn silk for the optimization of suitable drying technique. Fresh corn silk was dried by four different techniques viz. Shade drying, Sun drying, Tray drying and Microwave drying. Significantly higher content of protein, fat, fibre, calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, total phenols and flavonoids were observed in microwave dried corn silk. Antioxidant activity was also observed maximum in microwave dried corn silk (84.95%) followed by shade (83.69%), tray (82.81%) and sun (81.68%) dried corn silk. Thus, microwave drying is the optimum technique for drying of corn silk in comparison to shade, sun and tray drying.