Effect of blanching time on quality parameter of moringa leaves dried using solar tunnel dryer

Abstract

Moringa (Moringa oleifera) is widely recognized for its exceptional nutritional and medicinal properties, being rich in protein, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and bioactive compounds. Maintaining its quality over time is difficult due to its perishable characteristics. The present investigation was undertaken to study the effect of pre-treatment and drying on the quality of moringa leaves powder using solar tunnel dryer. Moringa leaves were processed using hot water with 0.5% KMS for three durations (1, 3 and 5 minutes) and unblanched moringa leaves, followed by solar tunnel drying techniques. The experiment was designed using a three-factor completely randomized design (FCRD) with two replications. Among all Treatments hot water blanching for 1-minute treatment was found to be best, yielding 223.33 mg/g total phenol,71.59% antioxidant activity, 1.51 mg/g chlorophyll a,0.39 mg/g chlorophyll b and 1.90 mg/g total chlorophyll content. All results were statistically analysed using ANOVA and significant differences were determined at the 5% level.