Abstract
This study investigated the quality of dried whole and half chili pods' powder dried with solar drying combined with CaCl2 desiccant compared with natural convection solar drying to produce the final chili powder product. Besides the sensory analysis, the quality parameters such as beta-carotene, moisture, vitamin C, and ash content were also observed. The results showed that 57 hours of drying time of whole and half chili pods using solar drying can reach moisture content below 5%. Beta-carotene, ash, and vitamin C contents of the whole chili were higher than those of half chili pods' dried pepper powder; they were20.38 ± 0.22 mg/100 g, 5.81 ± 0.15%, and 23.99 ± 0.57 mg/100 g, respectively. This study can guide the red chili drying process based on the quality of the dried chili powder.
Highlights
In 2019, Indonesia produced around 1,214,419 tons of chili, which increased 0.64% compared with the data in 2018, approximately 1,206,737 tons of chili [1]
The potency of Indonesia as a tropical country with a long duration of radiation, about 10-12 hours per day, was very highly potent to collect solar radiation by the solar collector, and the solar collector converted it into solar drier energy [2]
Temperature, humidity, and mass of red chili inside the drying box or solar collector were measured using sensor DHT22, type J thermocouples, and a load cell weight system data logger with an Agilent type 3497A data acquisition system to record all the measurements. 1 kg of red chili for the experimental treatments was spread on each of the stainless steel trays inside a closed drying box of solar drying and on the stainless steel trays dried directly in the open sun for the natural convection solar drying
Summary
In 2019, Indonesia produced around 1,214,419 tons of chili, which increased 0.64% compared with the data in 2018, approximately 1,206,737 tons of chili [1]. The performances of solar radiation have been tested to drying agricultural products such as cocoa beans and coffee beans [3,4,5]. Agricultural products such as red chili do the natural drying process utilizing sunlight with low operating costs as an effort to extend its shelf life due to its water content. The drying process using high heat to evaporate the moisture contained in the material can causes changes in color, aroma, and vitamin content [12]
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