ISPITIVANJE SUŠENJA KAMILICE I PITOME NANE ŠARŽNOJ SUŠARI. (Serbian).

CHAMAEMELUM; PEPPERMINT; DRYING; ESSENTIAL oils; ENERGY consumption; MOISTURE

Small and medium scale producers of medicinal plants in most cases perform it in batch dryers, which offer optimal investment/output rate. Disadvantages of this dryer type are: higher drying energy and slower through--heating of upper layers, with the resulting increase of microbial count. It is also frequently followed by higher losses of essential oils. This paper presents results of investigation of chamomile and peppermint drying characteristics in batch dryer expressed by: essential oil losses, microbial count changes and specific drying energy. Following parameters were measured: fuel consumption, change of material temperature and moisture content in levels 10 cm above grate and 10 cm below surface for three heights of fresh material layer, content of essential oils and microbial count. The drying regime was applied in three different phases, and different material batch heights. The following parameters were calculated: drying duration (related to the material mass), specific consumption of primary energy for drying, temperature course in material layers, change of microbial count and reduction of essential oil content. Results showed that the essential oil losses are acceptable. Microbial count has increased in the upper layer during drying process, while the temperature was less than 45°C for a long period. But during the final drying phase in this layer, the temperature was also over 45°C, and the final microbial count was almost the same for upper and lower levels. The energy input was higher for the lower layer of fresh material. Final results are instructions, procedure, for drying of chamomile and peppermint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mali i srednji proizvođači lekovitog i aromatičnog bilja u većini slučajeva za sušenje koriste šaržne sušare. Nedostaci ovih sušara su u većem utrošku energije u procesu sušenja i sporom zagrevanju viših slojeva materijala, što za posledicu ima porast broja mikroorganizama. Takođe, posledica ovog postupka je i značajan gubitak sadržaja etarskog ulja. Ovaj rad prikazuje rezultate istraživanja parametara sušenja kamilice i pitome nane u šaržnoj sušari s obzirom na gubitke sadržaja etarskog ulja, promene broja mikroorganizama i vrednosti specifične energije sušenja. Mereni su sledeći parametri: utrošak goriva, promena temperature i vlažnosti biljne sirovine u sloju 10 cm iznad rešetke i 10 cm ispod površine sveže biljne sirovine, sadržaj etarskog ulja i broj mikroorganizama. Režimi sušenja sprovedeni su kroz tri različite faze i debljine sloja biljne sirovine. Definisani su sledeći parametri: vreme trajanja sušenja biljnog materijala, specifična potrošnja energije potrebna za sušenje, promena temperature, broj mikroorganizama i sadržaj etarskog ulja u slojevima biljne sirovine. Rezultati ispitivanja pokazali su da je gubitak etarskog ulja prihvatljiv, a da je broj mikroorganizama porastao u gornjim slojevima tokom sušenja, mada se temperatura nije smanjivala ispod 45°C, u dužem periodu procesa sušenja. Tokom završne faze sušenja u gornjem sloju, temperatura je bila iznad 45°C tako da je konačan broj mikroorganizama bio skoro isti u gornjim i donjim slojevima. Utrošak energije je veći za donji sloj biljne sirovine. Krajnji rezultati su: uputstvo i procedura sušenja kamilice i pitome nane u šaržnoj sušari. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]