APPLICATION OF LOW TEMPERATURE FLUIDIZED BED DRYING FOR CLITORIA TERNATEA

Abstract

Butterfly pea (Clitoria ternatea), also known as bunga telang, is commonly used as an ingredient for natural colourant or herbal tea within Southeast Asia. Considering the nature of medicinal plants as highly perishable items due to their high moisture content, drying is one of the methods to better preserve the raw materials. However, increased temperature in drying methods can cause decrease in the bioactive compounds. Fluidized bed drying methods is chosen as an alternative, due to its ability to provide uniform temperature and moisture content of particles due to intensive particle mixing occurring in the bed. The aim of this study is to compare the drying time and bioactive compound retention of butterfly pea flower utilizing the fluidized bed drying method in comparison to other methods. The butterfly pea flowers were dried using the fluidized bed drying method and oven drying method. The samples were then taken out for moisture content analysis, anthocyanin content analysis, and total phenolic content analysis. Decrease in sample load shows lower drying time, with 50 grams of load requiring approximately 166.78 minutes. Drying of butterfly pea flowers shows better drying efficiency in the fluidized bed dryer requiring less time in comparison to the oven dryer. Drying of butterfly pea flower utilizing the fluidized bed dryer with 50 grams of load shows best anthocyanin retention at approximately 131.46 mg/L, and total phenolic content retention at approximately 16.07 mg/L.