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Performance analysis of solar and heat pump dryer of small cardamom (Elettaria Cardamomum Maton) using energy analysis, drying kinetics, and quality

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Abstract

Cardamom, also known as the “Queen of Spices,” is the world’s oldest recognized spice with a high market value for its dried final product. In this work, the drying kinetics of small cardamom (cv. Njallani) has been studied using a solar and a heat pump dryer. Before drying, the produce was pre-treated in sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) at 1%, 2%, and 3%. The treated small cardamom samples are dried as a single and double layer at 40, 45, and 50 °C. The maximum temperature observed inside the solar dryer is 80 °C, resulting in a faster drying rate than the heat pump dryer but poor quality and greenness ((a*) − 0.8 to − 3.25) even after being pre-treated with Na2CO3. The heat pump dryer showed a constant and falling rate drying period at all the temperatures, with the highest drying rate at 50 °C. It required at least 12 h to dry the cardamom samples from 455.5 to 10.2% moisture content as a single layer. The temperature and the bed thickness have the maximum influence on the water activity of dried cardamom (0.54–0.64). A higher greenness value and essential oil percentage are obtained from the small cardamom dried in the heat pump dryer at 45 °C.The COP and SMER are found best at 50 °C. Four different models are used to predict the moisture ratio curve of the dried cardamom, with the quadratic model having the highest R2 value.

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Data availability

All data are available upon request.

Abbreviations

%:

Percentage

 > :

Greater than

a*:

Greenness-redness

AC:

Alternating current

ANOVA:

Analysis of variance

a w :

Water activity

b*:

Bluish-yellowness

COP:

Coefficient of performance

cv. :

Cultivar

E b :

Power consumption by blower

E c :

Power consumption by compressor and blower

EO:

Essential oil

g:

Gram

h:

Hour

ha:

Hectare

hp:

Horse power

HPD:

Heat pump dryer

IS:

Indian standard

kg:

Kilogram

kJ:

Kilojoule

kW:

Kilowatt

L*:

Darkness-lightness

LDPE:

Low-density polyethylene

LPG:

Liquid petroleum gas

M:

Instantaneous moisture content at any time

m2 :

Meter square

MATLAB:

Matrix laboratory

Me :

Equilibrium moisture content

min:

Minutes

Mm:

Millimeter

Mo :

Initial moisture content

MR:

Moisture ratio

Na2CO3 :

Sodium carbonate

°C:

Degree Celsius

R :

Drying rate

R 2 :

Coefficient of determination

R22 (CHCIF2):

Difluoromonochloro methane

rpm:

Revolution per minute

SMER:

Specific moisture extraction rate

TR:

Tonnes of refrigeration

USD:

United States dollar

V :

Voltage

V EO :

The volume of essential oil

Ver.:

Version

w.b.:

Wet basis

W m :

Weight of water evaporated

W s :

Mass of sample (g)

α:

Alpha

 ± :

Plus or minus

Q c :

Condenser heating capacity (kW)

P c :

Compression power consumption (kW)

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to ICAR-AICRP on PHET, Ludhiana, India for the financial support of this work.

Funding

This work received financial support from the ICAR-AICRP on PHET, Ludhiana, India.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food Process Engineering, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, 641 003, Tamil Nadu, India

    Jikky Jayakumar & I. P. Sudagar

  2. Department of Food Technology, Hindusthan College of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore, 641 032, Tamil Nadu, India

    G. Jeevarathinam & S. Dinesh Kumar

  3. National Institute of Technology Rourkela, Odessa, 769008, India

    V. Arun Prasath

  4. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Institute of Engineering and Technology, GLA University Mathura, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, 281406, India

    Punit Singh

  5. Physiology, Biochemistry and Post-Harvest Technology Division, ICAR –Central Plantation Crops Research Institute, Kasaragod, 671 124, Kerala, India

    R. Pandiselvam

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  1. Jikky Jayakumar
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Contributions

Jikky Jayakumar—conceptualization, methodology, investigation; G. Jeevarathinam—conceptualization, methodology, investigation, I.P. Sudagar—methodology, investigation; V. Arun Prasath—methodology, investigation, writing original draft; Punit Singh—methodology, investigation, writing original draft; S. Dinesh Kumar—investigation, resources, original draft, review and editing; R. Pandiselvam—conceptualization, investigation, resources, original draft, review and editing.

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Correspondence to G. Jeevarathinam or R. Pandiselvam.

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Jayakumar, J., Jeevarathinam, G., Sudagar, I.P. et al. Performance analysis of solar and heat pump dryer of small cardamom (Elettaria Cardamomum Maton) using energy analysis, drying kinetics, and quality. Biomass Conv. Bioref. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-023-04177-x

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