Avaliação do processo de secagem da cebola (Allium cepa L.) em corte transversal utilizando um secador solar de baixo custo.

Abstract

The objective of this work was to analyze the time and the drying curve of Allium cepa L. (onion), in order to minimize the wastage that occur in the processing of this herbaceous, aiming at its greatest advantage by increasing the time of shelf. The drying method used was the direct exposure to the sun with natural air circulation, using a solar dryer, built in wood. In each drying were used approximately 250 g of onions, cut transversely. Every 60 minutes were taken of the internal and external temperatures and onions were removed from the dryer for measurement of the earth. The initial moisture content of onion was 84.57%, on a wet basis. The process of exposure to the sun lasted 9 hours and after this period of time, the average dry mass of onion was 37.22 g with a loss of 85.3% of the water mass. The final moisture content of onion was 5.48%, on a wet basis, a value below the maximum moisture stipulated by the National Agency of Sanitary Surveillance for plant products dried or desitratados, which is 12%. With this, it is expected that the development of microorganisms is disadvantaged, allowing storage of dry onion for a prolonged period of time.