Drying of Herbs, Spices, and Medicinal Plants

Drying is a key operation in processing of many plant-based foods and medicines for the purpose of preservation and retention of key attributes and active compounds. Therefore, it is essential to select suitable drying techniques to ensure a product is processed under optimal operating conditions. Drying of Herbs, Spices, and Medicinal Plants presents processing aspects of these three major global agricultural commodities. It offers an insight into the drying and product quality of herbs, spices, and medicinal plants, such as drying characteristics, equipment selection, physiochemical analyses, quality improvement, product development, storage, and shelf life as well as future developments. - Offers the latest information on drying and processing technologies, research, and development - Summarizes various drying techniques, their advantages and limitations, industrial applications, and simple design methods - Presents guidelines for dryer selection - Links theory and practice - Envisages future trends and demands Featuring chapters from expert authors in both industry and academia, this book is an important resource for those working in the chemical, food processing, pharma, and biotech industries, especially those focused on the drying of plants for food and medicinal applications.

Ching Lik Hii, PhD, is Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering and Co-Director of Future Food Malaysia Research Center at the University of Nottingham, Malaysia Campus. Before joining the university, he was Senior Research Officer (cocoa and chocolate processing) at the Chemistry and Technology Division, Malaysia Cocoa Board. Currently, he is also serving as Chair of the Food and Drink Special Interest Group (Malaysia Chapter), Institution of Chemical Engineers UK. Dr Hii's key research areas include cocoa processing, drying technology, mathematical modeling, and functional food processing. He is an editorial board member of Malaysian Cocoa Journal, Journal of Applied Food Technology, and American Journal of Food Science and Technology. Dr Hii is also a Professional Engineer (PEng) registered with the Board of Engineers Malaysia and a Chartered Engineer (CEng) registered with the Engineering Council UK. Shivanand S. Shirkole, PhD, is Assistant Professor in the Department of Food Engineering and Technology, Institute of Chemical Technology Mumbai, ICT-IOC Odisha Campus, Bhubaneswar, India. He earned a PhD in 2020 at the Department of Food Process Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, India. He has more than 4 years of industrial experience as a Plant Engineer at a Hyderabad-based multi-crop seed conditioning plant. His broad areas of research are low-moisture food safety and the thermal processing of food. Presently, he is working on sustainable technologies for food and agriproducts. He is an Executive Committee Member of the Association of Food Scientists and Technologists (India), NIT Rourkela Chapter, and working as an Associate Editor for the journal Drying Technology (Taylor & Francis).

1. Overview of the Global Market for Dried Herbs, Spices, and Medicinal Plants. 2. Guideline and Selection of Dryers for Herbs, Spices, and Medicinal Plants. 3. Drying Characteristics of Herbs, Spices, and Medicinal Plants. 4. Impact of Drying on Various Quality Characteristics of Herbs, Spices, and Medicinal Plants. 5. Instrumentation and Analyses of Bioactive Compounds and Ingredients. 6. Storage and Quality Degradation of Dried Herbs, Spices, and Medicinal Plants. 7. Product Development and Formulations from Dried Herbs, Spices, and Medicinal Plants. 8. Emerging and Advanced Drying Technologies for Herbs, Spices, and Medicinal Plants. 9. Techno-Economic Evaluation for Cost-Effective Drying of Herbs, Spices and Medicinal Plants. 10. Future Prospect and Global Market Demand for Dried Herbs, Spices and Medicinal Plants.