1PG Student, College of Technology and Engineering, M. P.U. A.T., Udaipur-313001, India
2 Professor and PI, AICRP on PHET, College of Technology and Engineering, M. P.U. A.T., Udaipur-313001, India
3Associate Professor and Head, Department of Processing and Food Engineering, College of Technology and Engineering, M. P.U. A.T., Udaipur-313001, India
*Corresponding author email address: mudgalvd@yahoo.com
Online published on 5 September, 2017.
Experimental trials on convective drying of turmeric (Curcuma longa L) rhizomes were conducted using factorial completely randomized design. Turmeric rhizome samples were cured for 30 min in 0.1% solution of sodium carbonate and dried in a laboratory tray dryer at air temperatures of 50°C, 60°C and 70°C with drying air velocity of 2 m.s−1. Drying air temperature was optimized on the basis of maximum retention of curcumin content, and b value of colour with minimum drying time and specific energy consumption. Optimization of drying parameters was carried out using numerical optimization technique. The optimum temperature for convective drying of turmeric rhizomes was found to be 60°C with drying time of 29 hours.
Turmeric rhizome, curing, convective drying, curcumin content, colour value
