Abstract:
A study was made of the effect on pepper quality of the traditional method
of processing the "Balancotta" variety of Piper nigrum (black pepper). The
study comparatively considered the microbiological quality, drying method,
drying rate, colour and appearance, washing or cleaning method, prior to
fermentation or heaping as well as an alternative method - heat treatment
processing of the commodity.
Using a solar dryer as a drying apparatus resulted in 9.8% moisture content
of the sample as opposed to 12.5% obtained for the traditional method of
sun/open air-drying. The drying was more effective using a solar dryer and
hence provided a better-dried product giving an assurance of better
keeping/storage qualities. Air-drying and solar drying were carried out in the
same area/locality with solar drying yielding a more hygienic product, giving
1.2 x 10zcfu/g of microorganisms compared to 8.0 x 104cfu/g enumerated in
the sample dried by the traditional open air method.
Chlorine disinfection prior to drying was, comparatively, a potent cleaning
mechanism, yielding samples with microbial counts in the region of 0.1 x
lOcfu/g immediately after its application. Sanitation of the
processing/drying environment had a significant bearing on the
microbiological quality of the dried products after the chlorine washing
hence the 1.2 xlOzcfu/g and 8.0 x 104cfu/g microbial counts obtained for
the solar and air-dried samples respectively.
Product Colour and appearance were studied by comparing traditionally
heaped/fermented samples with samples, which were given some heat
treatment by immersion in hot water prior to drying, and that, which was not
given any treatment at all. The heat-treated sample tended to be more
brightly coloured (black), followed by the untreated, but solar dried sample
and then the traditionally fermented sample, which had a brownish (dull)
black colour. The highest L values for colour intensity for both the heattreated
and traditionally fermented samples were 54.8 and 51.7
respectively.
