Garlic Under Various Drying Study and Its Impact on Allicin Retention

Abstract

Garlic (Allium sativum) has been cultivated for centuries all over the world on account of its culinary and medicinal properties. The present work has been carried out with the emphasis on selection of an efficient and cost-effective drying technique for garlic with highest allicin retention. For comparative study, drying of garlic samples were experimented with using different methods, namely heat pump dryer, hot air dryer, solar cabinet dryer, infra red dryer, vacuum dryer, freeze dryer, and fluidized bed dryer having different operating conditions. A comparison of the efficiency of various drying methods was based on the parameters, e.g., drying kinetics, allicin content, and color analysis. In addition, the effect of garlic slice thickness on the above-mentioned parameters was also studied. Drying of garlic shows a typical falling rate period in sliced form. It was observed that dried garlic samples using heat pump drying, vacuum drying, freeze drying, and heat pump cum fluidized bed drying showed lesser color change and excellent allicin retention compared to the other methods.

Keywords:

• Allicin content
• Drying techniques
• Garlic
• Quality
• Water activity