Evaluating the effect of Varying Drying Air Temperatures on Quality Attributes of Avocado (Persea Americana) Peels

Avocado (Persea americana) belongs to the family of Lauraceae. The processing of this fruit, as well as its fresh consumption, results in large amounts of waste, such as peels and seeds. The peels were dried at 40, 50, 60, 65 and 70 °C using oven dryer with a constant air velocity 1.4 m/s and open sun drying. The bioactive (flavonoids, total phenols and vitamin C) and nutritional content (carbohydrate, fat, fibre, protein, energy and ash content) of the avocado peel was investigated. The drying process took place mainly in the falling rate period indicating that water removal at the initial stage of the drying process was high and there was a rapid decrease as drying continued until equilibrium was reached. The ash, fibre, protein, vitamin c, flavonoids and metabolic energy content increase rapidly with an increase in the drying temperature. There was decrease in the fat, total phenolic content and moisture content of the dried avocado peels in this research. The Nutritional results obtained showed avocado peels had high contents of carbohydrate (40.732 % at 70 °C), fibre (35.187 % at 60 °C) and phenols (25.643 % at 50 °C) and therefore could be used as alternative sources of nutrients and also be added in foods avoiding waste and adding value to the fruit. The results showed that the peels are rich in antioxidants, fibre, flavonoids which helps to fight free radical damage and cancer in mammals and could be use as additive in foods.