Effects of Drying Methods on the Chemical Properties of Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench) Slices

Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) samples were subjected to three different drying methods using solar, sun and oven. Chemical and sensory properties of the dried okra samples were investigated using fresh okra as a control. Natural open sun drying took about 191/2 hours to dry the okra to a constant moisture content of 12.67% (w/b), solar dryer took 12 hours to dry to 12.50% (w/b) and hot air oven took about 101/2 hour to dry to 5.50% (w/b). The results of chemical properties showed that the fresh okra contained 75.67% moisture, 11.99 % crude protein, 0.34% crude fat, 1.03% crude ash, 0.50% crude fiber, 10.47% carbohydrate, 92.90 Kcal energy value, 12.83 cP viscosity and 26.04 mg/100 g vitamin 'C'. The open sun dried okra contained 21.93% crude protein, 2.56% crude fat, 9.33% crude ash, 8.05% crude fiber, 45.46% carbohydrate, 292.60 Kcal energy value, 13.10 cP viscosity and 17.14 mg/100 g vitamin 'C'. Solar dried okra contained 29.40% crude protein, 4.91 % crude fat, 10.12% crude ash, 8.71% crude fiber 34.36% carbohydrate, 299.23 Kcal energy value, 15.47 cP viscosity and 19.21 mg/100 g vitamin 'C'. Oven dried okra contained 17.97% crude protein, 2.20% crude fat, 9.23% crude ash, 6.12% crude fiber, 58.98% carbohydrate, 333.60 Kcal energy value, 21.13 cP viscosity and 14.08 mg/100 g vitamin 'C'. The above results showed that the drying methods used have a significant effect (p<0.05) on the physicochemical properties of the dried okra. The nutritional and sensory quality of the solar dried okra is superior to open sun and oven dried okra. It was concluded that better quality shelf stable dried okra can be obtained by solar drying method.