Investigating the Impact of Different Drying Techniques on Ebony Fruit

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-527-0_21How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Ebony fruit; Drying techniques; Nutritional retention; Functional properies; Solar drying

Abstract

This study analysed how sun, solar, shade, gas oven, and electric oven drying methods affect the proximate composition, mineral content, colour, and functional properties of Diospyros mespiliformis (ebony) fruit flour. The difference between drying method impacts was significant (p < 0.05). Moisture content was 6.4 to 12.1%; protein 4.6 to 6.2%; and carbohydrates 72.6 to 78.9%. The lowest moisture and highest nutrient content were yielded by electric and gas-electric oven drying. Solar drying of the fruit flour closely matched the oven methods and retained most of the minerals (Ca, Mg, and Fe) and colour integrity (high L* and low ΔE). On the other hand, sun and shade drying resulted in flours with more residual moisture and fewer nutrients. The functional properties of flour showed that electric and solar drying resulted in flours with the highest water absorption capacity (1.72–2.36 g/g) and rehydration ratio (3.12–4.87), which suggests these flours are useful in composite flour formulation. The overall best methods in terms of nutrient retention, colour, and functional properties were the more controlled methods of drying, particularly solar and electric oven drying, which indicates their promise for small-scale sustainable food processing in sub-Saharan Africa.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Leticia Touh Yamga
AU  - M. B. Anusha
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/12/24
TI  - Investigating the Impact of Different Drying Techniques on Ebony Fruit
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Applied Arts, Design, and Sustainability (ICAADS 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 308
EP  - 324
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-527-0_21
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-527-0_21
ID  - Yamga2025
ER  -