1 Central Institute of Post Harvest Engineering and Technology, Abohar, Punjab.
2 Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur, 721 302, India.
Spinach was dehydrated in an air-recirculating tray dryer at different temperatures with different degree of air recirculation. It was found that spinach did not have any constant rate of drying period and two clear cut falling drying rales were observed. It was also observed that with the decreases in 5°C drying air temperature, electrical energy requirement reduces by 25% without significantly affecting the total drying time. Where as, for every 10% increase in recirculation of air the electrical energy requirement decrease by 10–15%. The dehydrated spinach can be stored safely for 6 months in the polypropylene bags.
