Studies on hot air oven drying of chincherinchee (Ornithogalum thyrsoides Jacq.)

Ornithogalum thyrsoides Jacq. (chincherinchee) is a ornamental bulbous plant of family Liliaceae. Healthy, disease free and uniform spikes were harvested in the months of March and April 2014 when 10–11 florets were open. Four drying media were used for embedding of flowers in hot air oven drying viz., silica gel, borax, sand + silica gel (50: 50 v/v) and sand + borax (50: 50 v/v). After embedding, the flowers were dried in hot air oven at different temperature (50, 55 and 60°C) for different durations (24, 48 and 72 hours). The results obtained showed that maximum score for quality parameters, was recorded in flowers embedded in silica gel kept at 50°C for 24 hours (17.00/20) and minimum score (10.60/20) was obtained when the flowers were dried in borax kept at 60°C for 24 hours.