Enhancement in Product Value of Potato Through Chemical Pre-treatment and Drying Process

The large magnitude of the post-harvest losses in the agricultural sector has been a serious concern to the Indian economy. The Indian agriculture that supports large population base is however in peril owing to lower return on investment on account of uncertainty in revenue to cultivators. The challenging situation at times has resulted in public resentment by farm community leading to extreme steps dangerous to nation’s social fabric. The interventions are thereby essential to control this menace and instill confidence in farm community. The proposed work targets on an improvised method to enhance end value of potato crop through hygienic drying. The 0.4 kg sliced potato as treated and untreated samples subjected to electric drying required inlet air at 100 °C with 0.025 kg/s flow rate during the shortest drying rate of 4.5 h. The hygiene value of chemically treated dried potato as food item indicated permissible limits of microbial presence without any prevalence of fungi. The potato samples that lacked chemical treatment exhibited deterioration in quality on account of bacterial and fungal influx and hence did not pass acceptability test for consumption as a food item. The reported work has assessed most suited magnitudes of drying air temperature, air flow rate and chemical treatment parameters in potato drying along with assessment of dried product food quality.