Kinetics of moisture loss during dehydration of drum stick leaves (Moringa Oliefera) in a bio-mass tray dryer

Abstract

Studies were conducted on a newly developed bio-mass dryer installed with wire mesh tray with natural convection. Drum stick leaves were dehydrated using agri-waste as fuel for the dryer. Agriculture fields generate lot of waste in the form of fodder, leaves, sticks and roots, etc, It has been a major problem of pollution when farmers put these waste materials on to fire. The dryer is made of bricks to suit the drying temperatures of foods. Dryer is designed to generate temperature of the order of 50 – 100 deg C to suit the heat requirements of most of the vegetables, especially for green leafy vegetables. This paper reports the data collected during the dehydration of drum stick leaves and data analyses on kinetics of moisture changes. Nutritional values are measured and reported. Data of moisture loss is modeled using exponential and polynomial equations. The highest R square values are obtained with polynomial kinetic model. The moisture rate is maintained below the standard value in all the experimentation.