Utilization of solar energy in the drying of some medical and aromatic plants [electronic resource].

Includes references.

Fayoum Governorate is considered to be the biggest governorate producing and exporting medicinal and aromatic plants., These plants are still dried in a primitive way (sun drying), being unprotected from rains, dust , and infestation ,by insects and rodents, so that, their quality are often degraded. Thus the approach of this work was performed to study the possibility of using solar energy for drying chamomile, marigold, parsely and dill. Calculation absorved energy, diffuse radiation, useful energy gained, and efficiency percent of wood or steel collecter, which used in solar dryer, were used to compare between the two methods of drying . Drying rate, drying ratio, rate of drying ratio, chemical composition, microbial count, and organoleptic characteristics of the dried product, were olso considered. It was found that the efficiency of solar drier was affected by the type of the absorber plate ; and the best one was the painted steel plate, On the other hand, solar drying reduced the time of drying to about 20%.

Summary in Arabic.

1