ARTICLE INFO

ABSTRACT

Received date: 27/07/2015

Accepted date: 26/11/2015

Frozen Artemia (Artemia franciscana) biomass was dehydrated by outdoor sun drying and three indoor drying techniques which consisted of convective hot air drying (HA), intermittent microwave combined with convective hot air drying (MWHA) and oven drying at temperatures of 50, 60 and70°C. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of different drying techniques at different temperatures on the contents of total lipid and fatty acid profile of Artemia biomass. The results showed that among three indoor drying techniques, the shortest drying time was 57-74 min for MWHA, followed by 380-480 min (HA) and 480-1320 min (oven drying), while sun drying showed the longest dehydration duration of 1380 min compared to other drying methods. In addition, drying time was relatively decreased with increasing temperature. For the three indoor drying methods, the contents of total lipid and fatty acids of dried Artemia biomass were not significantly different (P>0.05) from the control in most cases. On the contrary, sun drying resulted in a high loss of these substances compared to the control. Moreover, at the same drying temperature, the longer drying time caused a higher loss of nutrients in the dried products as shown by the values in the MWHA sample which was slightly higher than in other two drying methods. Nonetheless, significant differences between the three indoor drying methods were not observed (P>0.05). In general, the intermittent MWHA drying is a promising technique, which could produce high quality dried products in short drying times. However, it might not be suitable for large-scale application because of high capital investment and operating costs. Therefore, sun drying method should be improved to optimize the use of renewable energy sources through application of solar dryer.

KEYWORDS

Artemia franciscana bi-omass, total lipid, fatty acid, drying methods

Cited as: Anh, N.T.N., Nhi, N.T., and Hoa, N.V., 2015. Effect of different drying methods on total lipid and fatty acid profiles of dried Artemia franciscana biomass. Can Tho University Journal of Science. 1: 1-9.