www.tjprc.org editor@tjprc.org OPTIMIZATION OF DRYING AIR TEMPERATURE OF BLACK SOYBEAN UNDER THIN LAYER DRYING KAUSHAL KUMAR 1 , S. K. GARG 2 & D. K. GUPTA 3 1 Associate Professor, Department of Agro Processing and Rural Engineering, Mahamaya College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology (NDUAT, Faizabad) Akabarpur, Uttar Pradesh, India 2 Associate Professor, College of Agriculture, JNKVV, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India 3 Ex-Professor Department of PHP&FE, GBPUAT, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, India ABSTRACT Black soybean is the most important pulse crop of Uttarakhand, India. It is supposed to be very nutritious pulse for the people of Hill region and. Published scientific information about Black soybean is rarely available. Thin layer drying experiments were conducted at five levels of temperature i.e. 32, 40, 50, 60 and 70 0 C at an air velocity of 0.4m/s and drying characteristics of Black Soybean was investigated to study the optimum drying air temperature and conditions. Page’s model was found to fit best at drying temperatures of 40, 50 60 and 70 0 C. For optimization of drying air temperature mainly shrinkage, cracks, colour, milling recovery and energy consumption per kg of water removal were taken as parameters but shrinkage, colour and cracks in particular were considered as major parameters. The shrinkage was increased from 2.27 to 12.84%. Rapid in the drying temperature range of 32 to 50 0 C. The colour did not change when the drying temperatures increased from 32 to 50 0 C. There was not significant increase in the cracks development when the drying temperature increased from 32 to 50 0 C. KEYWORDS: Black Soybean, Bhatt, Drying of Pulses, Shrinkage, Cracks & Drying Characteristics Received: Sep 21, 2016; Accepted: Oct 18, 2016; Published: Oct 21, 2016; Paper Id.: IJASRDEC201616 INTRODUCTION Black soybean commonly known as Bhatt is traditionally used as pulse grain having high protein content and is similar to soybean, an industrially important crop which has evoked lot of scientific interest. It is a cold climatic crop and is especially grown in the rainfed conditions. Although Bhatt is considered as Black Soybean yet its usage differ to a great extent in sense that yellow soybean is mainly used as oilseed crop while Black soybean is used as a pulse crop. After extraction of oil, the cake or defatted flakes of soybean are used for the preparation of different commodities, whereas the Black Soybean is mainly used as pulse grain and is being used since ages. Therefore, Black soybean is something different from soybean to some extent that is why it is used differently and requires separate investigations regarding its properties. Black Soybean contains all three of the macronutrients required for good nutrition; complete protein, carbohydrate and fat, as well as vitamins and minerals, including calcium, folic acid and iron (Itapattu 2003). To utilize these special features and to promote cultivation. The common practice to utilize Black Soybean is as whole grain. Before consumption, it is either roasted and popped like corn and used as snack in winter or soaked and then cooked as pulse. It is also used as Dubke (Karhi) after grinding and boiling. The products of Black Soybean as pulse and Dubke are highly nutritious, and a majority of people prefer. Lagili, Thumri and Bhangrail are the main local varieties of Black Soybean grown in Original Article International Journal of Agricultural Science and Research (IJASR) ISSN(P): 2250-0057; ISSN(E): 2321-0087 Vol. 6, Issue 6, Dec 2016, 103-114 © TJPRC Pvt. Ltd