| Author | Natthaporn Jirakitkul |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.FB-07-13 |
| Subject(s) | Mulberry--Drying
|
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering in Food Engineering and Bioprocess Technology, School of Environment, Resources and Development |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Thesis ; no. FB-07-13 |
| Abstract | The laboratory scale microwave vacuum drying unit was developed for drying mulberry (Morus alba) leaves. The drying model was developed and the drying characteristics, rehydration ratio, color and sensory of microwave vacuum dried mulberry leaves at selected power level of 185W, 335W and 455W as investigated and compared with vacuum drying and hot air drying at temperature of 70°C, 80°C and 90°C. The developed laboratory microwave vacuum drying gave the maximum power output as 535W which is 71.33% of microwave power rated capacity. The microwave vacuum drying was more efficient than vacuum drying and hot air drying and resulted in savings to an extent of about 95 to 98 percent. Page's model used to describe the drying kinetics of mulberry leaves gave an excellent fit for all drying methods with R2 greater than 0.9911 and SEE lower than 0.029. In vacuum drying and hot air drying, the value of the drying constant increased with the increased temperature of drying. The value of the drying constant increased with the increased microwave power level for microwave vacuum drying. Furthermore the drying rate constant of microwave vacuum drying was significantly higher than vacuum drying and hot air drying resulting into microwave vacuum drying took the shortest time for drying mulberry leaves. The microwave vacuum dried mulberry leaves at the highest power level (455W) exhibited less shrinkage and thus had better rehydration ratio (4.227) of all methods. The color criteria assessments showed that both of microwave vacuum dried mulberry leaves and, liquor mulberry tea produced the excellent of brightness and greenness. In addition, the color sensory test of liquor mulberry tea, the result accorded to results that assessed by spectrocolorimeter and the color preference also accorded to the color parameters. In general, compared to vacuum drying and hot air drying, microwave vacuum drying can greatly reduce the drying time and successfully be used to produce good quality dried mulberry leaves in terms of color |
| Year | 2007 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | Asian Institute of Technology. Thesis ; no. FB-07-13 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources (Former title: Department of Food Agriculture, and BioResources (DFAB)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Food Engineering and Bioprocess Technology (FB) |
| Chairperson(s) | Athapol Noomhorm; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Rakshit, Sudip Kumar;Jayasuriya, Hemantha P.W; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Royal Thai Government Fellowship; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2007 |