Effect of drying parameters on quality attributes of green chilli

Abstract

Chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) is one of the most important commercial spice crops, widely used universal spice, and is virtually an indispensable item in the kitchen for everyday cooking. Green Chilli powders have many practical applications for use with many food adjuncts in place of fresh green chillies. The drying of chilli was carried in two stages: microwave drying for initial moisture reduction (60%wb) and tray drying for final product. Each sample sizes (100, 125, 150, 175 and 200 g) was dried in microwave at constant power 160W for 14min, second stage of drying was conducted in tray dryer after 14min over temperature ranges of 55, 60, 65, 70 and 750C inside the tray dryer.The results were found that quality parameters like carotene content 0.377 µg/100g and dehydration ratio (16.02) are significantly affected by drying temperature (600C) while sample size(125g) was found to affect the carotene of final dried product. It is concluded that the best drying time was found 180min to dry 125g chilli at 600C temperature.