COMPARATIVE STUDY OF OPEN SUN DRYING AND SOLAR CABINET DRYING TECHNIQUES FOR DRYING OF GREEN CHILIES

This communication aims to make a comparison between Open Sun Drying (OSD) and Solar Cabinet Drying Techniques. A natural convection cabinet dryer was designed, fabricated and tested under the meteorological conditions of Bareilly (28.3640° N, 79.4150° E). Green Chilies (Capsicum Annuam) were blenched with 1% NaCl solution at 850C for two minutes followed by instant cooling. 73% (w. b.) of initial moisture content was reduced to 8.5% (w. b.) and 15% (w. b.) of final moisture content for cabinet dryer and OSD respectively. Drying rate for cabinet dryer and OSD were recorded as 0.242 kg/hr and 0.177 kg/hr respectively. A gain of 53% in cabinet drying over OSD was recorded.