Development of large scale drying system for Chillies(Capsicum annum)

A study was conducted to investigate large scale drying of ripe chillies in unutilized tobacco barns.  Experiments indicated that ten quintals of ripe chillies can be loaded in a 6 m×3.6 m size barn.  Galvanized iron wire mesh trays of size    105 cm×75 cm×7.5 cm were found to be suitable to spread chillies on the existing tiers.  Drying time required to reduce moisture from 292.5% to 9.6% (db) varied considerably depending upon whether chilli pods were thin pericarp type varieties or thick pericarp type hybrids.  The hybrids took about 40 hours to dry whereas the varieties took about 24 hours.  Drying air temperatures ranging initially at 50℃ to a final value of about 55℃ were found to be appropriate to dry chillies.   Open yard sun drying took 12 and 17 days for varieties and hybrids respectively.   The discoloured pods were low, 3.5%- 4% in barn dried process in comparison to 12% to 14% in open yard sun drying.  The study suggests that unutilized barns can be converted to dry ripe chillies on a large scale.Keywords: Chillies, drying, barns and large scale Citation: Satyanarayana CH. V. V., and P. C. Vengaiah.  Development of large scale drying system for Chillies (Capsicum annum).  Agric Eng Int: CIGR Journal, 2010, 12(1): 189-193.&nbsp