IJRET: International Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology eISSN: 2319-1163 | pISSN: 2321-7308 _______________________________________________________________________________________ Volume: 04 Issue: 04 | Apr-2015, Available @ http://www.ijret.org 620 COMPARATIVE STUDIES ON QUALITY ANALYSIS OF FREEZE DRIED AND CROSS FLOW DRIED AMLA POWDER Sasikanth Sarangam 1 , Purba Chakraborty 2 1 Lecturer, School of Food Technology, Jawaharalal Nehru Technological University Kakinada, East Godavari, Andhra Pradesh, India 2 Lecturer, School of Food Technology, Jawaharalal Nehru Technological University Kakinada, East Godavari, Andhra Pradesh, India Abstract Amla is known as wonder fruit for health. Due to its therapeutic properties, there is a great demand for the amla. It is as well as one of the richest sources of Vitamin C. Several value added products have been reported from Amla. Drying can be used as a means of increasing product stability and increasing ease of distribution and storage of this product and products derived from it. Freeze-drying is a technique that results in high-quality dehydrated products due to the absence of liquid water and the low temperatures required in the process. Use of a cabinet dryer is an alternative drying method that both decreases the drying time and improves the quality of the final product. The present work was undertaken to get good quality of amla powder by comparing the drying techniques of freeze dryer and cross flow dryer. Work were carried to produce amla powder by using amla juice but in this study instead of drying amla juice, directly amla chunks/ segments were used to produce powder. For easier consumer consumption and longer shelf life, amla can be dried and powdered. The powdered amla can be packed and can be used for longer days, mostly during the periods when the availability of amla fruits are less. Keywords: Amla, Freeze Drying, cross flow dryer and shelf life. --------------------------------------------------------------------***---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. INTRODUCTION Amla is one of the oldest Indian fruits and considered as “Wonder fruit for health” because of its unique qualities. It is a rich source of vitamin C and hence, its content of ascorbic acid. The indigenous fruit has extensive adaptability to grow in diverse climatic and soil conditions. The tree belonging to the family of Euphorbiaceae is botanically known as Emblica phyllanthus or Emblica officinalis. It is called by different names like Anola, Amalaki, Nelli, Indian gooseberry etc. Due to its therapeutic properties, there is a great demand for the amla fruit. They are useful in curing many diseases like, diabetes, cough, asthma, bronchitis, headache, ophthalmic disorders etc. It is used in making pickles and preserves (Kalra, 1988). The fruit is used as a major constituent in several Ayurvedic preparations such as Chyavanprash and Rasayana which promotes health and longevity (Rajkumar et al., 2001). In addition to this, potent antioxidant, several active tannoid principles (Emblicannin A, Emblicannin B, Punigluconin and Pedunculagin) have been identified which appear to account for its health benefits (Rastogi 1993; Rao et al., 1985). Several value added products have been reported. Amla was used to prepare ready-to-serve beverage (Deka et al., 2001), candy, powder (Tripathi et al., 1988), sauce (Chauhan et al., 2005) etc. Indian gooseberry is a seasonal fruit and thus, various preservation techniques have been developed such as freezing, and pickling with salt, oil and spices, and drying (natural sun drying is widely practiced in most tropical countries). Food drying is one of the oldest methods for preservation of food for later use. Drying of food sample is safe and easy to conduct. Drying removes the moisture from the food so bacteria, Yeast, and Mold cannot grow and spoil the food. It removes moisture, the food become lighter in weight, when the food is ready for use; the water is added back and food retain its original shape. There are three techniques for foods drying are commonly used such as sun drying, oven drying and freeze drying. First, the drying process is done to force out the moisture from food. Secondly, dry air to absorb the released moisture and finally the air movement to carry out the moisture away from the food. The freeze dried product should be passing through all the three stages which are freezing process, primary and secondary drying process. Freeze-drying is a technique that results in high-quality dehydrated products due to the absence of liquid water and the low temperatures required in the process. The solid state of water during freeze-drying protects the primary structure and minimizes changes in the shape of the product, with minimal reduction of volume (Ratti, 2001). The drying process may alter these properties, resulting in products with modified texture, optical, thermal and nutritional properties (Krokida, 2001). Use of a cabinet dryer is an alternative drying method that both decreases the drying time and improves the quality of the final product. It is known that the drying conditions and also the sample geometry affect the quality of the dried product (Krokida, 2001).