Abstract—The effect of solar drying on the quality of three species of vegetables is presented. These species are amaranthus (tete in local language), vernonia (ewuro) and fluted pumpkin (ugu). Proximate analysis and microbial load analysis were carried out on the vegetable samples after each day of drying for a total of 5 days. The solar irradiation for the period varied from 89 W/m2 to 203 W/m2. Both analyses show that the nutritional composition of the fresh vegetable and their microbial load decreases with each day of drying. To have maximal nutritional values from vegetables, it is best to consume them fresh. However, for storage purposes, two days of drying is sufficient to prevent spoilage and at the same time retain an average 70% of fat, 80% ash, 70% carbohydrate, and 60% protein of their initial nutritional composition.
Index Terms—Drying, Nutrition, Quality, Solar, Vegetables
Awogbemi Omojola (Corresponding author) is with University of AdoEkiti, Nigeria. Phone no. is +2348033550582;
Ogunleye I. Olusola is with the University of Ado Ekiti, Nigeria.
Cite: Awogbemi, Omojola and Ogunleye, I. Olusola, "Effects of drying on the qualities of someselected Vegetables," International Journal of Engineering and Technology vol. 1, no. 5, pp. 409-414, 2009.
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