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International Conference on

Recent Trends in Environmental Sustainability

ESCON22/FWSH/16
Solar drying of vegetables in district Vehari, Pakistan

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Tanzeela Bashir , Dr. Samina Khalid
1 Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Vehari- Campus,
61100 Pakistan

Correspondence: saminakhalid@ciitvehari.edu.pk
Abstract

It is estimated that one-third of the vegetables are lost or wasted before it reaches the
consumers. Reducing postharvest losses can improve food security and human health. Solar
drying is a cheap and inexpensive method to dry fruits and vegetables for a long time to reduce
packaging necessities and decrease the transport weight and increase the economy. In the
current study, we perform two experiments (Spinach and Carrot). In experiment one, we dry
spinach using two treatments (Covered container and uncovered container). In the covered
container, the temperature (46.82°C), humidity (54.86%), weight loss (63.83) was high as
compared to the uncovered container (44.14°C, 45.71%, 63.71 respectively). The color change
was faster in the uncovered container compared to the covered container. And in the second
experiment, we dry carrots using two treatments (slices and grater). In this experiment
temperature(44.83°C) and humidity (52%) were the same but weight loss (71.61%) and color
change from red to pink were high in the grater samples as compared to the slice sample and
95% disease was found in both samples due to lack of sunlight because the samples were placed
in the dark.
Keywords: postharvest; food security; humidity

Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Vehari Campus

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