Production of dry ivy gourd leaves as vitamin A-rich food using solar dryer
2000
Pornrat Sinchaipanit | Sitima Jittinandana | Suttilak Smitasiri (Mahidol Univ., Bangkok (Thailand). Institute of Nutrition)
Malnutrition is a major problem of populations in developing countries, such as Thailand. Specifically, one of the most important micronutrient deficiencies is that of vitamin A. The prevalence of vitamin A deficiency in preschool children has been found to be as high 20 percent in previous studies in Thailand which can contribute to poor growth and eyesight problems. The objective of this study was to produced dried ivy gourd with a high vitamin A content by using solar drying. Dried ivy gourd was produced using whole leaves and leaves cut into 1 cm wide strips which were solar dried for 8 hours. The results showed that the percent yield after drying of both products was 11.11. The amount of moisture content in whole leaves and strip leaves was 8.4 and 6.2 percent respectively, the water activity was 0.47 and 0.44. The quantity of vitamin A was 7,205.00 and 7,122.25 micrograms per 100 gram, which represents a vitamin A loss compared with fresh ivy gourd of 27.49 and 28.32 percent respectively. In addition, the quantity of moisture content, including water activity and vitamin A loss in both products were slightly increased during storage for 1 month. In summary, dried ivy gourd production with solar drying is a highly efficient and a good nutritive source of vitamin A.
Show more [+] Less [-]AGROVOC Keywords
Bibliographic information
This bibliographic record has been provided by Kasetsart University