Comparative review with a field survey on conventional and advanced solar dryers in agricultural processing.

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Title:	Comparative review with a field survey on conventional and advanced solar dryers in agricultural processing.
Authors:	John, Milan K.¹ (AUTHOR), Bandaru, Rohinikumar¹ (AUTHOR) rohinikumar@nitc.ac.in, Zachariah, T. John² (AUTHOR)
Source:	Journal of Thermal Analysis & Calorimetry. Jul2025, Vol. 150 Issue 13, p10267-10298. 32p.
Subjects:	Solar dryers, Agricultural processing, Drying apparatus, Field research, Agriculture, Technological innovations
Geographic Terms:	India
Abstract:	Drying is the post-harvesting technique to increase the shelf life of agricultural commodities. The methods used range from drying under the open sun to vacuum, infrared or freeze-drying. Even though many advanced technologies are available, farmers still depend on open arena drying because of cost-effectiveness added with numerous advantages like less labour, easy handling, etc. Farmers still make use of dryers based on conventional fossil fuel input. Research breakthroughs remain largely confined to the academic areas, failing to reach the target communities. A field survey is conducted among the different locations of farming communities to create an insight on the crude drying methodologies adopted by the farmers. Major agricultural crops in the southern geographical location of India are reported along with the solar insolation through the year. The current review aims to build up a picture of current drying practices used by farmers in Asian geographical locations. This paper presents the conventional drying practices according to the source of energy-biomass, electricity, diesel, gas, and solar energy. Adverse effects of the crude drying technologies used by farming communities are reported in the work. Additionally, the advanced dryers are reported from the literature to showcase the recent studies in drying technologies. The traditional and modern drying practices employed by the farming communities will be informative to the scientific community regarding the overall picture of drying perspectives in India. The use of solar energy for drying applications should be encouraged, both to conserve energy and to improve product quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
	Copyright of Journal of Thermal Analysis & Calorimetry is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database:	Engineering Source

Description
Abstract:	Drying is the post-harvesting technique to increase the shelf life of agricultural commodities. The methods used range from drying under the open sun to vacuum, infrared or freeze-drying. Even though many advanced technologies are available, farmers still depend on open arena drying because of cost-effectiveness added with numerous advantages like less labour, easy handling, etc. Farmers still make use of dryers based on conventional fossil fuel input. Research breakthroughs remain largely confined to the academic areas, failing to reach the target communities. A field survey is conducted among the different locations of farming communities to create an insight on the crude drying methodologies adopted by the farmers. Major agricultural crops in the southern geographical location of India are reported along with the solar insolation through the year. The current review aims to build up a picture of current drying practices used by farmers in Asian geographical locations. This paper presents the conventional drying practices according to the source of energy-biomass, electricity, diesel, gas, and solar energy. Adverse effects of the crude drying technologies used by farming communities are reported in the work. Additionally, the advanced dryers are reported from the literature to showcase the recent studies in drying technologies. The traditional and modern drying practices employed by the farming communities will be informative to the scientific community regarding the overall picture of drying perspectives in India. The use of solar energy for drying applications should be encouraged, both to conserve energy and to improve product quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:	13886150
DOI:	10.1007/s10973-025-14370-x