AN ALTERNATIVE METHOD FOR THE SUN DRYING OF TRADITIONAL DRIED EGGPLANT

Abstract

Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) is an important market vegetable of Asian and Mediterranean countries. According to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, world production of eggplants was around 50.19 million tons in 2014. China as main producer (29.5 million tons) followed by India (13.5 million tons), Egypt (1.2 million tons), Iran (0.85 million tons) and Turkey (0.82 million tons) (FAO, 2014). Turkey is one of the worlds largest growers, whose annual production has been around 827380 tons in 2014 (FAO, 2014). Eggplant is a good source of vitamins and minerals, especially in potassium and phosphorus. It contains a variety of phytochemicals such as phenolics and flavonoids (Akanitapichat et al., 2010). It is ranked amongst the top ten vegetables in terms of antioxidant capacity due to the phenolic constituents (Cao et al., 1996). Sun drying method is widely used to dry grains, vegetables, fruits and other agricultural products (İ. T. Togrul et al., 2004). In Turkey, sun drying is commonly used for drying of vegetables. In open sun drying, solar radiation directly affects the foods. The heat results in vapor formation with increasing temperature and evaporation of water from the surface of food (I. T. Togrul, 2003). During the early stages of drying, convective hot air drying is certainly the most efficient method. However, as the process continues, drying hardly progresses and slows down so it requires more energy (Argyropoulos et al., 2011). During drying process, the rate of evaporation is faster than the rate of water movement to the surface

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