Investigation of Dried Herbal Tea Production from Breadfruit (Artocarpus Altilis) Pulp

Abstract

The fruits are great source of carbohydrate and it has low fat. Since the fruit can be steamed, fried, baked, roasted and fried, they can be eaten at all stages of growth. Drying was described as the reduction of material moisture to the required dryness values as a definite process and it is of major interest in food processing. To increase breadfruits popularity and expand their use in the food industry, it’s neccesary to explore the appropriate postharvest handling and storage. Therefore, objective of this study focused on the effect of blanching temperature and time; heat pump drying temperature and storage condition to cinnamic acid (mg/100 g_DW), antioxidant activity (mmol·Fe²⁺/kg_DW), color (sensory score) of the dried breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) tea. Results showed that breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) should be blanched in hot water 95^oC at 4 seconds in the present of CaCl₂ 2% and then beeing dried by heat pump dryer at 40^oC until 6.5% moisture. The final herbal tea could be preserved under vacuum in PET/AL/PE bag at 4^oC to maintain antioxidant activity for 12 months

Keywords: Breadfruit, Artocarpus altilis, Herbal tea, Blanching, Drying, Antioxidant activity.