Drying kinetics and effect of air-drying temperature on chemical composition of Phyllanthus amarus and Phyllanthus niruri

ABSTRACT

In this study, the drying kinetics of Phyllanthus amarus and Phyllanthus niruri were investigated experimentally in an air-drying oven as a function of drying temperature (50, 60, and 70°C). The effects of the air-drying temperature on the phenolic content and the LC–MS profile were also studied. Increases in air-drying temperature reduced the drying time and increased the effective moisture diffusivity. An Arrhenius relationship with activation energy values of 22.828 and 43.129 kJ/mol for P. niruri and P.amarus, respectively, expressed the effect of temperature on the diffusivity. Air drying at 70°C increased the availability of some phenolic compounds. However, the higher temperature negatively affected some sensitive components.

KEYWORDS:

• Diffusivity
• herbs
• medicinal plant
• orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis
• phytochemicals
• principal component analysis

Additional information

Funding

The current study was financially supported by Embrapa (No. 02.10.06.019.00.00 and 03.14.04.002.00) and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (402654/2012-9).