EVALUATING THE EFFECTS OF DRYING SIZE AND DRYING TEMPERATURE ON THE QUALITY OF THE ROOT POWDER OF Asparagus officinalis

Abstract

The roots of asparagus have great potential for food applications. Drying is one of the most popular methods to process asparagus roots after harvest. In this study, we investigated the effects of drying size and drying temperature on the quality of the root powder of asparagus. The results show that sample size directly affects drying time; the 2 mm sample had a drying time shorter than 10 and 50 mm. In addition, the drying temperature of 70 °C resulted in dried powder with higher phenolic content and antioxidant activity than the temperature of 40-60 °C. The findings indicate that asparagus roots with a size of 2 mm, a drying temperature of 70 °C, have the shortest drying time, 3.5 hours, total phenolic content of 11.35 mg gallic acid/g, and antioxidant activity reached 4.49 µmol Trolox/g dry matter.