"COMPARATIVE STUDY OF DRYING CHARACTERISTICS OF AMLA FRUIT USING OPEN SUN DRYING AND SOLAR DRYING METHOD"

Abstract

Amla fruits were utilised in this study to compare solar drying with open sun drying. For drying, open sun drying was used, and a lab-scale solar dryer was also constructed. Drying temperature, moisture content (MC), and drying rate were the comparison criteria used. In order to com pare solar drying of amla with natural sun drying, three different air velocity flow rates are used: 5 m/s, 5.5 m/s, and 6 m/s. The ambient temperature is between 25ºC and 35ºC, while the drying chamber's temperature ranges from 50 to 85 degrees Celsius. The proposed dryer's efficiency ranges fro m 36.56 to 48.45 percent, whereas sun drying's efficiency ranges from 11.4 to 16.64 percent. It has been found that as air velocity flow rates rise, the dryer's efficiency rises as well. In identical environmental conditions, the solar dryer dried clothes more quickly than open-air drying. Compared to sun drying, which takes 12–16 hours, solar drying takes 4–8 hours to attain a safe moisture content. Additionally, the value of solar dried amla is superior to that of sun dried amla in terms of colour, flavour, odour, and look. The current work's observed results demonstrate that the suggested solar dryer works well for drying amla in this area.