COMPARATIVE STUDIES ON QUALITY ANALYSIS OF FREEZE DRIED AND CROSS FLOW DRIED AMLA POWDER

Sasikanth Sarangam, Purba Chakraborty

Abstract: Amla is known as wonder fruit for health. Due to its therapeutic properties, there is a great demand for the amla. It is as well as one of the richest sources of Vitamin C. Several value added products have been reported from Amla. Drying can be used as a means of increasing product stability and increasing ease of distribution and storage of this product and products derived from it. Freeze-drying is a technique that results in high-quality dehydrated products due to the absence of liquid water and the low temperatures required in the process. Use of a cabinet dryer is an alternative drying method that both decreases the drying time and improves the quality of the final product. The present work was undertaken to get good quality of amla powder by comparing the drying techniques of freeze dryer and cross flow dryer. Work were carried to produce amla powder by using amla juice but in this study instead of drying amla juice, directly amla chunks/ segments were used to produce powder. For easier consumer consumption and longer shelf life, amla can be dried and powdered. The powdered amla can be packed and can be used for longer days, mostly during the periods when the availability of amla fruits are less.

Keywords: Amla, Freeze Drying, cross flow dryer and shelf life.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15623/ijret.2015.0404107