Secagem solar de folhas de coentro e salsa: uma alternativa para o pequeno produtor.

Abstract

Nowadays there are several studies in relation to effective methods for the conservation of vegetables post-harvest, but many methods are not yet economically viable for the small producer, in this context, the drying in a solar dryer emerges as an alternative in the process of conservation of coriander and parsley that are two of the vegetables consumed in Brazil, since it maintains the nutritional characteristics and physical-chemical coming from the product in natura. This drying method has the advantage of low cost and easy handling of the dryer, so it is widely used in family farming. Then, the purpose of this work was to evaluate the kinetics of drying of agroecological coriander and parsley leaves, dehydrated in solar dryer, directly exposed to the sun and adjust the mathematical models of Page, Newton, Thompson, Henderson and Pabis, Midilli, Two terms and Approximation of diffusion to the experimental data obtained and to characterize the two samples, regarding the parameters of the water content, total solids, water activity and color (L*, a* and b*). By analyzing the results it was observed that the temperature of the air inside the solar dryer was always higher than the outside temperature in both drying. The results of physicochemical parameters of coriander and parsley leaves were close to the expected and from submitted mathematical models best represented the drying kinetics of organic coriander and parsley leaves was the Midilli.