PRE-DESIGN OF YELLOW TEA INDUSTRIAL (CAMELLIA SINENSIS VAR. ASSAMICA): QUALITY IMPROVEMENT OF YELLOW TEA (CAMELLIA SINENSIS VAR. ASSAMICA) THROUGH HOT AIR DRYER

• Main Author: Ayuningtyas, Ukhti
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/77035
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Tea (Camellia sinensis) is a type of plant that is very well known to be processed into nutritious and soothing drinks so that it is in great demand by the public. Yellow tea is a type of tea that is still not as well-known as green tea or black tea. An additional step called "sealed-yellowing" is used during yellow tea processing which results in a fresher, softer yellow tea flavour. Drying is the most crucial process in tea because it can affect the quality of tea, such as polyphenols, antioxidants, and organoleptic content. The use of a hot air dryer is one suitable tea drying method because this tool is arranged on shelves that allow the ingredients to dry evenly. In this study, yellow tea was processed with variations in hot air dryer temperature (60, 80, 100, and 120 °C) to obtain yellow tea processing with optimal temperature. The best results in yellow tea, seen in water content, total polyphenol content, antioxidant activity, and organoleptic results. The total water content produced is less than 6% (w.w), the polyphenol content of extracts and steeping water ranges from 19.657-23.919% (w/w.), and 4.656- 10.235% (w/w) with the highest number found at 80°C drying. The antioxidant activity of tea extract and steeping water ranged from 17,055-20,150 mg/L and 42,180-50,393 mg/L respectively with the best results of both found at 80°C drying. The average organoleptic score by expert panellists ranged from 64.3 to 66.8 out of a total score of 100. Hedonic organoleptic score gives the best results at a drying temperature of 120°C. Activation energy was obtained from drying kinetics of 6.83 kJ/mol with preexponential factor values of 0.4 min-1 and R2 of 0.9928.