Microwave Vacuum Drying of Turmeric, Tomato, and Cardamom and its Impact on Quality Characteristics

Andrya Antony K; Monica Velusamy; Muthumanikandan L; Venkatachalapathy Natarajan; Mahendran Radhakrishnan

doi:10.34256/famr2524

Andrya Antony K Industrial Department of Food Process Technology, National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management – Thanjavur (NIFTEM-T), Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India
Monica Velusamy Industrial Department of Food Process Technology, National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management – Thanjavur (NIFTEM-T), Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India
Muthumanikandan L Frozen Comp Innovations Pvt Ltd., Theni, Tamil Nadu, India
Venkatachalapathy Natarajan Industrial Department of Food Process Technology, National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management – Thanjavur (NIFTEM-T), Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India
Mahendran Radhakrishnan Industrial Department of Food Process Technology, National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management – Thanjavur (NIFTEM-T), Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India

Keywords: Microwave Vacuum Drying, Turmeric, Tomato, Cardamom, Curcumin, Lycopene

Abstract

This study investigated the effectiveness of the microwave vacuum dehydrator (MVD) in drying selected commodities, namely turmeric slices, tomato slices, and cardamom, at 7 kW microwave power and 100 mbar partial pressure. The MVD successfully reduced the moisture content of the commodities to below 9%, guaranteeing safe storage conditions. The drying process was completed in 3 hours for turmeric slices, 6 hours for tomato slices, and 7.42 hours for cardamom. Additionally, MVD consumes significantly less energy, making it an economically viable choice for industrial applications. In terms of nutritional quality, microwave vacuum drying had no adverse effects on the macronutrient composition of the commodities, but there was a slight reduction in the micronutrient concentration of cardamom. The curcumin content in dried turmeric slices was 2.4%, meeting standard quality requirements, while the lycopene content in dried tomato slices was 40.27 mg/100g, indicating negligible degradation. Furthermore, the color and texture of the dried commodities were better preserved compared to other conventional and hybrid drying methods. Overall, microwave vacuum drying has proven to be an energy-efficient and time-saving technology that maintains the nutritional and bioactive properties of commodities.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

S.S. Shirkole, A.S. Mujumdar, G.S.V. Raghavan, Drying of foods: principles, practices and new developments. Drying Technology in Food Processing Unit Operations and Processing Equipment in the Food Industry, Woodhead Publishing and Elsevier, (2023) 3–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-819895-7.00020-1

H. Qu, M.H. Masud, M. Islam, M.I.H. Khan, A.A. Ananno, A. Karim, Sustainable food drying technologies based on renewable energy sources. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 62(25), (2022) 6872–6886. https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2021.1907529

R. Grau, A. Andres, J.M. Barat, Principles of Drying. In Handbook of Fermented Meat and Poultry (eds F. Toldrá, Y.H. Hui, I. Astiasarán, J.G. Sebranek and R. Talon), (2024) 31-38. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118522653.ch5

V.R. Sagar, P. Suresh Kumar, Sagar, V.R., Suresh Kumar, P. (2010). Recent advances in drying and dehydration of fruits and vegetables: a review. Journal of food science and technology, 47(1), (2010) 15-26. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-010-0010-8

G. Thamkaew, I. Sjöholm, F.G. Galindo, A review of drying methods for improving the quality of dried herbs. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 61(11), (2020) 1763–1786. https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2020.1765309

Á. Calín-Sánchez, L. Lipan, M. Cano-Lamadrid, A. Kharaghani, K. Masztalerz, Á.A. Carbonell-Barrachina, A. Figiel, Comparison of traditional and novel drying techniques and its effect on quality of fruits, vegetables and aromatic herbs. Foods, 9(9), (2020) 1261. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9091261

C.L. Hii, S.P. Ong, J.Y. Yap, A. Putranto, D. Mangindaan, Hybrid drying of food and bioproducts: a review. Drying Technology, 39(11), 1554–1576. https://doi.org/10.1080/07373937.2021.1914078

P. Khatun, A. Karmakar, I. Chakraborty, Microwave-vacuum drying: Modeling validation of drying and rehydration kinetics, moisture diffusivity and physicochemical properties of dried dragon fruit slices. Food and Humanity, 2, (2024) 100292. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foohum.2024.100292

G.R. Carvalho, R.L. Monteiro, J.B. Laurindo, P.E.D. Augusto, Microwave and microwave-vacuum drying as alternatives to convective drying in barley malt processing, Innovative Food Science & Emerging Technologies, 73, (2021)102770. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ifset.2021.102770

C.H. Scaman, T.D. Durance, L. Drummond, D.W. Sun, Combined Microwave Vacuum Drying, In Emerging Technologies for Food Processing, In Elsevier eBooks, (2014) 427–445. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-411479-1.00023-1

K.K. Dash, H. Shangpliang, G.V.S. Bhagya Raj, S. Chakraborty, J.K. Sahu, Influence of microwave vacuum drying process parameters on phytochemical properties of sohiong ( Prunus nepalensis ) fruit. ournal of Food Processing and Preservation, 45(3), (2021). https://doi.org/10.1111/jfpp.15290

G. Saha, A.B. Sharangi, T.K. Upadhyay, L.A. Al-Keridis, N. Alshammari, N.M. Alabdallah, M. Saeed, Dynamics of Drying Turmeric Rhizomes (Curcuma longa L.) with Respect to Its Moisture, Color, Texture and Quality. Agronomy, 12(6), (2022) 1420. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12061420

T.J. Gaware, N. Sutar, B.N. Thorat, Drying of tomato using different methods: Comparison of dehydration and rehydration kinetics. Drying Technology, 28(5), (2010) 651–658. https://doi.org/10.1080/07373931003788759

S.G. Ilangantileke, C. Karunaratne, M. Senanayake, Effects of Chemical Pretreatment and Drying Temperatures on the Commercial Quality of Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum). Journal of Food Quality, 16(6), (1993) 451–470. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-4557.1993.tb00271.x

V.S. Govindarajan, S. Narasimhan, K.G. Raghuveer, Y.S. Lewis, W.H. Stahl, Cardamom - Production, technology, chemistry, and quality. C R C Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 16(3), (1982) 229–326. https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398209527337

G. Singh, S. Arora, S. Kumar, Effect of mechanical drying air conditions on quality of turmeric powder. Journal of Food Science and Technology, 47(3), (2010) 347–350. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-010-0057-6

P. Rajkumar, S. Kulanthaisami, G.S.V. Raghavan, Y. Gariépy, V. Orsat, Drying kinetics of tomato slices in vacuum assisted solar and open sun drying methods. Drying Technology, 25(7–8), 1349–1357. https://doi.org/10.1080/07373930701438931

AACC (30-25.01), (2009) Crude fat in wheat, corn, and soy flour, feeds, and mixed feeds. In AACC International eBooks. https://doi.org/10.1094/aaccintmethod-30-25.01

AACC (08-01.01), (2009) Ash--Basic method. In AACC International eBooks. https://doi.org/10.1094/aaccintmethod-08-01.01

AACC (46-11.02), (2009) Crude Protein--Improved Kjeldahl Method, Copper Catalyst Modification. In AACC International eBooks. https://doi.org/10.1094/aaccintmethod-46-11.02

B. Rakesh, R. Anbarasan, B. Kamalapreetha, R. Purushothaman, B.R. Ashutosh, R. Mahendran, Chlorpyrifos Pesticide Removal from Black Grapes Using Plasma-Activated Water Produced by Plasma Bubbling Technology. Journal of Food Processing and Preservation, 2024, (2024) 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1155/2024/7856706

Bureau of Indian Standards. (1990). Methods for volumetric determination of calcium and magnesium using EDTA (IS 5949:1990). https://law.resource.org/pub/in/bis/S02/is.5949.1990.pdf

Bureau of Indian Standards. (1983). Method for atomic absorption spectrophotometric determination of sodium and potassium (IS 10614:1983). https://archive.org/details/gov.in.is.10614.1983

J. Surendar, D.M. Shere, P.D. Shere, Effect of drying on quality characteristics of dried tomato powder. Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry, 7(2), (2018) 2690–2694.https://www.phytojournal.com/archives/2018.v7.i2.3883/effect-of-drying-on-quality-characteristics-of-dried-tomato-powder

P. Patidar, (2023) Drying of turmeric (curcuma longa) in solar tunnel dryer. Junagadh AgriculturalUniversity.https://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/server/api/core/bitstreams/313425cf-2ba3-4a28-a854-5c099c7c2d5d/content

H.S. EL-Mesery, Improving the thermal efficiency and energy consumption of convective dryer using various energy sources for tomato drying. Alexandria Engineering Journal, 61(12), (2022) 10245–10261. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2022.03.076

R. Shreelavaniya, S. Kamaraj, S. Subramanian, R. Pangayarselvi, S. Murali, A. Bharani, Experimental investigations on drying kinetics, modeling and quality analysis of small cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) dried in Solar-Biomass Hybrid Dryer. Solar Energy, 227, (2021) 635–644. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2021.09.016

S.V. Crowley, J.A. O’Mahony, Drying Effect on Nutrients, Composition and Health. In Encyclopedia of Food and Health, Elsevier, (2015) 439–445. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-384947-2.00242-7

G., Jeevarathinam, R., Pandiselvam, T. Pandiarajan, P. Preetha, M. Balakrishnan, V. Thirupathi, A. Kothakota, Infrared assisted hot air dryer for turmeric slices:Effect on drying rate and quality parameters. LWT, 144, (2021) 111258. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2021.111258

A. Ray, S. Mohanty, S. Jena, A. Sahoo, L. Acharya, P.C. Panda, P. Sial, P. Duraisamy, S. Nayak, Drying methods affects Physicochemical Characteristics, Essential Oil Yield and Volatile Composition of Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.). Journal of Applied Research on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, 26, (2021) 100357. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmap.2021.100357

N. Çetin, Comparative Assessment of Energy Analysis, Drying Kinetics, and biochemical Composition of Tomato Waste under Different Drying Conditions. Scientia Horticulturae, 305, (2022) 111405. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2022.111405

M. Das Purkayastha, A. Nath, B.C. Deka, C.L. Mahanta, Thin layer drying of tomato slices. Journal of Food Science and Technology, 50(4), (2013) 642–653. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-011-0397-x

N. Indrianti, I.D. Sejati, N. Afifah, L. Ratnawati, S.K.D.F.A., Putri, D. Sukarta, B.S. Amanto, The influence of drying temperature to the physicochemical, thermal and rheological characteristics of dried tomato powder. BIO Web of Conferences, 69, (2023) 01022. https://doi.org/10.1051/bioconf/20236901022

S. Sonu, D. Kshanaprava, P.P. Tripathy, Application of computer vision technique for physical quality monitoring of turmeric slices during direct solar drying. Journal of Food Measurement & Characterization, 13(1), (2018) 545–558.https://doi.org/10.1007/s11694-018-9968-0

A. Borah, L.N. Sethi, S. Sarkar, K. Hazarika, Effect of Drying on Texture and Color Characteristics of Ginger and Turmeric in a Solar Biomass Integrated Dryer. Journal of Food Process Engineering, 40(1), (2015). https://doi.org/10.1111/jfpe.12310

G.R. Askari, Z. Emam‐Djomeh, M. Tahmasbiahmasbi, Effect of various drying methods on texture and color of tomato halves. Journal of Texture Studies, 40(4), 371–389.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-4603.2009.00187.x

R.A. Benner, Organisms of Concern but not Foodborne or Confirmed Foodborne: Spoilage Microorganisms. In Elsevier eBooks, (2014) 245–250. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-378612-8.00169-4

N. Komonsing, P. Khuwijitjaru, M. Nagle, J. Müller, B. Mahayothee, Effect of drying temperature together with light on drying characteristics and bioactive compounds in turmeric slice. Journal of Food Engineering, 317, (2022) 110695. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2021.110695

S. Hirun, N. Utama-ang, P.D. Roach, Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) drying: an optimization approach using microwave-vacuum drying. Journal of Food Science and Technology, 51(9), (2012) 2127–2133. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-012-0709-9

M. Sharma, D. Atheaya, A. Kumar, Performance evaluation of indirect type domestic hybrid solar dryer for tomato drying Thermal, embodied, economical and quality analysis. Thermal Science and Engineering Progress, 42, (2023) 101882. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsep.2023.101882

P.K. Mukherjee, Qualitative Analysis for Evaluation of Herbal Drugs. In Quality Control and Evaluation of Herbal Drugs, Elsevier, (2019) 79–149. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-813374-3.00004-1

S.N. Chibuzo, T. M. James, O.O. Victor, O.E. Okpomor, E.I. Carew, F.O. Chigozie, D. Belay, T. Abebe, Effects of Charcoal kiln and Microwave Oven Drying Techniques on the Chemical and Thermal Characteristics of Tomato and Yam Slices. African Journal of Food Science, 16(3), (2022) 58–62. https://doi.org/10.5897/ajfs2021.2163

A. Polat, O. Taskin, N. Izli, B.B. Asik, Continuous and Intermittent Microwave‐Vacuum Drying of Apple: Drying Kinetics, Protein, Mineral Content, and Color. Journal of Food Process Engineering, 42(3), (2019). https://doi.org/10.1111/jfpe.13012

T.A.B. Sanders, Introduction: the role of Fats in Human Diet. In Functional Dietary Lipids, Elsevier eBooks, (2024) 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-443-15327-3.00007-0

E.O. Oke, B.I. Okolo, K. Nwosu-Obieogu, K.O. Osoh, C.J. Udeh, Optimizing Proximate Composition Of Dried Turmeric Rhizome In A Tray Dryer Using Response Surface Technique. Annals of the Faculty of Engineering Hunedoara-International Journal of Engineering, 18(3), (2020) 113–126.

J. Famurewa, A. Raji, Physicochemical characteristics of osmotically dehydrated tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) under different common drying methods. International Journal of Biological and Chemical Sciences, 5(3) (2011) 1304–1309. https://doi.org/10.4314/ijbcs.v5i3.72284

J. Wang, Y. Li, Q. Lu, Q. Hu, P. Liu, Y. Yang, G. Li, H. Xie, H. Tang, Drying temperature affects essential oil yield and composition of black cardamom (Amomum tsao-ko). Industrial Crops and Products, 168, (2021) 113580. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2021.113580

S. De Lima Maria, A.P. Da Silva Marco, R.P. Geovana, C. Caroline, F.V. Nubia, M.D.C. Ruthele, C.F. Da Silva Ranio, F. De Souza Castro Carlos, C. Marcio, M.S. Richard, (2017). Physical and chemical characteristics and drying kinetics of turmeric (Curcuma longa L.). African Journal of Agricultural Research, 12(1), 28–34. https://doi.org/10.5897/ajar2016.11738

P.A. Idah, O.I. Obajemihi, Effects of Osmotic Pre-Drying Treatments. Duration and Drying Temperature on Some Nutritional Values of Tomato Fruit, 5(2), (2014) 119–126.

X. Deng, H. Huang, S. Huang, M. Yang, J. Wu, Z. Ci, Y. He, Z. Wu, L. Han, D. Zhang, Insight into the incredible effects of microwave heating: Driving changes in the structure, properties and functions of macromolecular nutrients in novel food. Frontiers in Nutrition, 9, (2022) 941527. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2022.941527

V. Silpa, V. Athira, A. Nandulal, E. Gokulvel, T. Mishra, V. Venugopal, M. Arumugam, A. Kothakota, T. Venkatesh, Influence of Refrigerated Adsorption Dehumidified Drying towards the Retention of Phenolic, Flavonoid and Antioxidant Properties of Small Cardamom (Elettaria Cardamomum): Performance Comparison with Convection, Solar and Fluidized Bed Dryer. Industrial Crops and Products, 200, (2023) 116839. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2023.116839

A. Adharis, K. Loos, Synthesis of glycomonomers via biocatalytic methods. Methods in Enzymology on CD-ROM/Methods in Enzymology, 627, (2019) 215–247. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.mie.2019.04.015

R.G. Parmar, M.N. Dabhi, P.J. Rathod, Effect of drying temperature on proximate components of turmeric rhizome in tray dryer. South Florida Journal of Environmental and Animal Science, 3(4), 174–181. https://doi.org/10.53499/sfjeasv3n4-002

M. Yusufe, A. Mohammed, N. Satheesh, Effect of Drying Temperature and Duration on Nutritional Quality of Cochoro Variety Tomato (Lycopersicon Esculentum L.). Annals: Food Science & Technology, 18(2), (2017) 145–152.

M. Kumar, V. Pratap, J.K. Gour, M.K. Singh, Vitamin C. In Antioxidants Effects in Health, Elsevier, (2022) 535–546. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-819096-8.00065-3

V.H.A. Enemor, U.C. Ogbodo, O.F. Nworji, O.C. Ezeigwe, C.O. Okpala, G.C. Iheonunekwu, Evaluation of the Nutritional Status and Phytomedicinal Properties of Dried Rhizomes of Turmeric. Journal of Biosciences and Medicines, 08(08), (2020) 163–179. https://doi.org/10.4236/jbm.2020.88015

F.H. Şahin, P. Ülger, T. Aktaş, H. Orak, Effects of Different Drying Techniques on Some Nutritional Components of Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum). Journal of Agricultural Machinery Science, 2010(1), (2010) 71–78.

Q. Ye, N. Georges, C. Selomulya, Microencapsulation of active ingredients in functional foods: From research stage to commercial food products. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 78, (2018) 167–179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2018.05.025

M. Özcan, D. Arslan, A. Ünver, Effect of drying methods on the mineral content of basil (Ocimum basilicum L.). Journal of Food Engineering, 69(3), (2004) 375–379. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2004.08.030

B.G. Gebreyes, B.A. Hirko, Nutritional Composition of Cardamom (Elettaria Cardamoum). International Journal of Pharmaceutical Research, 3(5), (2019) 50-53.

A.S.A. Dhaheri, D.H. Alkhatib, A. Jaleel, M.N.M. Tariq, J. Feehan, V. Apostolopoulos, T.M. Osaili, M .N. Mohamad, L.C. Ismail, S.T. Saleh, L. Stojanovska, Proximate composition and mineral content of spices increasingly employed in the Mediterranean diet. Journal of Nutritional Science, 12, (2023) e79. https://doi.org/10.1017/jns.2023.52

T.D. Beshah, M.A. Fekry saad, S. el Gazar, M.A. Farag, Curcuminoids: A multi-faceted review of green extraction methods and solubilization approaches to maximize their food and pharmaceutical applications. Advances in Sample Preparation, 13, (2025) 100159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sampre.2025.100159

A.J. Fernando, C. Gunathunga, T. Brumm, S. Amaratunga, Drying turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) using far-Infrared radiation: Drying characteristics and process optimization. Journal of Food Process Engineering, 44(9), (2021). https://doi.org/10.1111/jfpe.13780

Z. Chen, Y. Xia, S. Liao, Y. Huang, Y. Li, Y. He, Z. Tong, B. Li, Thermal Degradation Kinetics Study of Curcumin with Nonlinear Methods. Food Chemistry, 155, (2014) 81–86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2014.01.034

Bureau of Indian Standards. (2010). Spices and condiments — Turmeric, whole and ground — Specification (IS 3576:2010). https://archive.org/details/gov.in.is.3576.2010

S.M. Lokhande, R.V. Kale, A.K. Sahoo, R.C. Ranveer, Effect of curing and drying methods on recovery, curcumin and essential oil content of different cultivars of turmeric (Curcuma longa L.). International Food Research Journal, 20(2), (2013) 745–749.

S. Tan, Z. Ke, D. Chai, Y. Miao, K. Luo, W. Li, Lycopene, polyphenols and antioxidant activities of three characteristic tomato cultivars subjected to two drying methods. Food Chemistry, 338, (2020) 128062. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2020.128062

A.M. Goula, K.G. Adamopoulos, Stability of Lycopene during Spray Drying of Tomato Pulp. LWT - Food Science and Technology, 38(5), (2005) 479–487. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2004.07.020

B. Souza da Costa, M. O. García, G. S. Muro, and M.-J. Motilva, A Comparative Evaluation of the Phenol and Lycopene Content of Tomato By-Products Subjected to Different Drying Methods. LWT, 179, (2023) 114644. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2023.114644

N.S. Bhatkar, S.S. Shirkole, A.S. Mujumdar, B.N. Thorat, Drying of Tomatoes and Tomato Processing Waste: a Critical Review of the Quality Aspects. Drying Technology, 39(11), (2021) 1720–1744. https://doi.org/10.1080/07373937.2021.1910832