Drying of Lavander (Lavandula officinalis L.) flowers

Hossein Ahmadi Chenarbon, Saei

Abstract

Drying is the most common food preservation, particularly for medicinal plants and herbs because of reduction of essential oils and changes of qualitative properties such as color, which both of them influence on the economical value of the products. Drying process of Lavandula officinalis L. flowers was studied and modeled in this investigation. Independent variables were temperature at three levels (40, 50 and 60◦C), air velocity at two levels (0.5 and 1 m/s) and product depth at three levels (1, 2, and 3cm). The experimental data was fitted to a number of thin layer drying equation such as Yagcioglu, modified Page, Page, Henderson and Pabis, Lewis, two-term and Verma. Based on the results, the Page equation showed the best fit.