DRYING EFFECT ON VOLATILE OILS ON MINTS

Abstract

The mint is aromatic plant with utilisation in medicine, aromatic and cosmetic industry as well as in human been consumption. The research aimed to present the influence of drying on chemical composition of diferent species of genus Mentha. Seven varieties of Mint have been analysed in this experiment: M. spicata L., M. aquatica L., M. arvensis L., M. longifolia L., M. suaveolens Ehrh., M. pulegium L., and M. pipperita L. The drying experiment have been conducted using a Thermo-Cabinet model Hohenheim with recirculation of drying air. The drying experiments have been conducted at the 40℃, 50℃ and 60℃ constant temperature. Have been describe the drying behaviour ploted as wet base as well as dry base as well as drying rate for all species of mints analysed. The drying time decrease with increasing of drying temperature from 19.29 h to 04.46 h. The drying time as well as drying behaviour is strongly dependent to species of mint analysed. The chemical composition data have been processed for fresh mint, dried mint at 40℃, 50℃ and 60℃. A strong correlation between variety and drying temperature on chemical composition have been found and described.