Secado solar de plantas medicinales

Abstract

The purpose of the research was to generate moisture curves for medicinal plants treated in a solar dryer. These were constructed using a fl at solar collector attached to a vertical camera of natural convection drying. The drying time was expressed both in actual hours, and in equivalent hours of sun, for the foliage of three species of medicinal plants commonly used or produced in the state of Trujillo. The loss of moisture over time is plotted until the material reached 10% humidity with a temperature no higher than 45 Celsius degrees, in the working fl uid, in three times a year. Once the moisture curves were generated and compared with the outdoor conventional drying, was found a signifi cant reduction in the drying time to reach the recommended moisture. Additionally have the advantage of obtaining a better quality product, because the material not exposed to direct sunlight. Plot the moisture curves in equivalent hours of sunshine, allows comparison with conventional forced convection drying and constitute a valuable enforcement tool for producers and researchers as a reference the drying time