Open AccessChanges in the physical and chemical properties of C. nutans herbal leaves dried under different drying methods
Author(s) -
Sriyana Abdullah,
Rumaisa Nordin,
M A A Rzemin,
Norawanis Abdul Razak
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
iop conference series. earth and environmental science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1755-1307
pISSN - 1755-1315
DOI - 10.1088/1755-1315/765/1/012011
Subject(s) - vacuum drying , herb , chemistry , freeze drying , food science , shelf life , antioxidant , medicinal herbs , dried fruit , horticulture , botany , traditional medicine , chromatography , biology , organic chemistry , medicine
Drying is a well-known preservation method that uses to extent the shelf life of food materials during storage. In herbal industry, the drying is conducted by using several methods. It is believed that drying methods could affect the herbs physical and chemical properties. In this project, the effects of different drying methods on colour changes, rehydration ratio and bioactive constituent of C. nutans herb were investigated. The herb was dried under sunlight, shade, vacuum oven, and microwave. Results showed that the dried leaves have better retention of TPC and higher antioxidant activity as compared to the fresh leaves. Vacuum oven dried samples showed the highest antioxidant activity and significantly high in TPC. Besides, vacuum and under shade dried herbal leaves had no significant effect on the colour changes. Moreover, leaves dried under vacuum oven was also observed to exert the highest rehydration ratio due to less cell breakdown during drying. Therefore, vacuum drying has greater performance in term of retaining colour, less microstructure changes and greater TPC and antioxidant activity. It could be suggested that by adding vacuum to other drying methods may able to enhance the herbal quality.