Oyster mushroom drying efficiency using a solar dryer

Abstract

Many countries are collaborating with developing nations to mitigate the challenges brought on by economic impact. Particularly Thailand, which emphasizes growth from the bottom up, fosters the growth of indigenous products by maximizing the potential of the region. The effectiveness of drying oyster mushrooms and the optimum drying period were assessed in this study. Six scenarios were created to examine the effectiveness of drying oyster mushrooms: two for a natural drying and four for solar drying with a controlled flow rate and ventilation area. The findings indicated that the drying temperature was 43.63 degree Celsius on average. When gathering information through sampling and comparing dried oyster mushrooms with the community product standard in terms of color, size, odor, cleanliness, and moisture content, it was found that all scenarios conformed to the standards, except for the color standard where the natural drying methods (scenario 1 and scenario 2) were darker than the standard. With a value of 37.69 percent in terms of thermal efficiency, scenario 5 (flow rate of 87.83 cubic meters per hour and ventilation area of 0.12 square meters) was discovered to be the best. Nevertheless, in order for community product development to be sustainable, all standards-compliant production is mandatory. The quality of the product also can be enhanced by choosing appropriate drying parameters, such as temperature and relative humidity.

Keywords

• Solar dyer
• Drying efficiency
• Solar energy
• Renewable energy
• Oyster mushroom