AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON NUTMEG CONVECTIVE DRYING

• Main Author: Kadir Jaelani, Abdul
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/47157
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Nutmeg is Indonesia's main commodity which has supplied 75% of the world's needs. The prospect of increasing the quality and quantity of nutmeg seeds in Indonesia is still very high because of the methods and technology that being used now is too conservative. Nutmeg drying is an important step in determining the quality and production time of nutmeg seeds. The objective of this research is to determine the effects of temperature and air velocity on the drying performance of nutmeg seeds. First, the experiment was conducted by measuring the average water content of nutmeg seeds and then simulating the process by drying the nutmeg seeds in a duct, using an electric fan and heater. The experiment was arranged by varying the values of temperaturse and air velocities. Determination of variations in temperature and air velocity uses a basic combination design. The selected values of temperature at 40°C, 45°C & 50°C, with the values of air velocitiy at 0,5 m/s, 0,7 m/s, and 1,0 m/s. The experiment result of nutmeg seed based on ISO 771:1977 showed that the average water content of old, medium, and young nutmeg were 37.67% wet basis (w.b), 54.43% (w.b), & 71.34% (w.b). It can be concluded that the higher are the temperature and drying air velocity, the higher is the drying rate of the nutmeg seed sample. Using factorial design, it was shown that the temperature value has a greater influence than the velocity of the drying air. It is found also an interaction between the temperature and the drying air velocity, in which an interaction between the increase in temperature and the drying air velocity will significantly increase the drying rate.