Author(s):

N Sagarika, SS Kapdi, RF Sutar, GB Patil and SH Akbari

Abstract: Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) fruits are considered as a major source of carbohydrate which includes simple sugars like glucose, fructose, and sucrose. Date palm fruits contain about 60% moisture, therefore drying of fresh dates is necessary to extend its shelf life. Hence, drying characteristics of date palm fruits were studied using greenhouse dryer and compared the results with open sun drying. A gable shaped greenhouse with east-west orientation has been constructed with 4.5 m length and 3.0 m width. The height of the greenhouse is about 3.0 m approximately. The walls of the greenhouse were wrapped with UV resisted polyethylene sheet. In open sun drying the date palm fruits were directly exposed to solar radiations. The results showed that the time taken to dry date palm fruits in greenhouse dryer and open sun drying was 40 hours and 58 hours respectively.

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